Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Appropriation Bill 2016 is an essential element of financial housekeeping that, as Members of the House are aware, must be concluded by both Houses of the Oireachtas this year.

The Bill serves two primary purposes. First, it is necessary to authorise in law all the expenditure that has been undertaken in 2016 on the basis of the Estimates voted on by the Dáil during the year. The amounts included in section 1 and Schedule 1, to be appropriated for supply services, all relate to amounts included in the Revised Estimates for 2016 of €44.2 billion in aggregate, voted on by the Dáil in April and July this year, as well as the Supplementary Estimates worth €0.4 billion, agreed by the Dáil last week.

The second key purpose of the Bill is to provide a legal basis for spending to continue into 2017. The passage of the Bill allows continued funding, in the period before the 2017 Estimates are approved, of social welfare payments from the social protection Vote, Exchequer pay and pensions, and other voted expenditure.

Under the rolling multi-annual capital envelopes introduced in budget 2004, Departments may carry over unspent capital from the current year to the following year, up to a maximum of 10% of voted capital. The multi-annual systems is designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the management by Departments and agencies of capital programmes and projects. It recognises the difficulties inherent in the planning and profiling of capital expenditure and acknowledges that capital projects may be subject to delays. The carryover facility allows for a portion of unspent moneys, which would have been lost to the capital programmes and projects concerned under the annual system of allocating capital, to be made available for spending on programme priorities in the subsequent year.

The Appropriation Act determines definitively the capital amounts that may be carried over to the following year. The aggregate amount of proposed capital carryover is just under €76.5 million, which represents less than 2% of the total Exchequer capital programme of €4.2 billion for 2016. In 2015, there was an amount of just under €112 million in capital expenditure savings carried over into 2016.

The proposed amounts to be carried over by Vote are set out in Schedule 2 to the Bill. The 2017 Revised Estimates volume, published today, sets out detailed financial and key performance information for Departments and offices. In Part II of the Estimates, for each Vote availing of a capital carryover facility a table is included listing the amounts to be deferred by subhead.

Certain Exchequer pay and pensions and social welfare payments, particularly child benefit, are due for payment by electronic fund transfer on 3 January 2017. With the banking system closed on 2 January 2017, funding will need to be in place in departmental bank accounts by 30 December 2016 to meet those liabilities on a timely basis. In addition, An Post needs to be pre-funded before the end of 2016 in respect of child benefit payments due in the first week of January 2017 in order to convert electronic funds transfer payments from the Department of Social Protection into real cash and physically transfer it to its network of post offices throughout the country.

These Exchequer pay, pension and social welfare payments will form part of the supply services for 2017, and consequently the funds to cover these costs will be included in amounts disbursed from the Central Fund to the Paymaster General's supply account as part of the 2017 supply issues. These costs will come under moneys voted in 2017 in respect of which the usual processes and mechanisms for voted moneys in 2017 will apply. However, as the funds need to be available in the Paymaster General's supply account before the end of the year, in order to facilitate timely payment, section 3 of the Appropriation Bill includes a specific provision to allow for an advance from the Central Fund to the Paymaster General's supply account. Any amounts advanced to the supply account would then be repaid to the Central Fund in January. The Bill provides that the amounts so advanced shall not exceed €200 million.

The signed Act is required by the Comptroller and Auditor General for clearance of the end-year issues from the Exchequer. Under Article 25.2.1° of the Constitution, the President may not sign a Bill earlier than the fifth day after the date on which the Bill is presented to him. However, there is provision in Article 25.2.2° whereby, at the request of the Government, with the prior concurrence of Seanad Éireann, the President may sign a Bill on an earlier date than the fifth day mentioned. In view of the urgency of this Bill, the provision in Article 25.2.2° is sought, and a motion to this effect is placed before the Seanad. Such an early signature motion has also been sought in regard to the Appropriation Bill in previous years.

I remarked at the outset that the Appropriation Bill is an essential element of housekeeping that those of us in both Houses of the Oireachtas are required to undertake. The passing of the Bill will authorise in law all of the expenditure that has been undertaken in 2016 on the basis of the Estimates voted on by the Dáil during the year. Of fundamental importance to those who depend on our essential public services, the passage of the Appropriation Bill will allow the payments required for these public services to continue in 2017 in the period before the 2017 Estimates are voted. I commend the Bill to the House.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State. No Senator has yet indicated he or she wants to speak on this matter. On that basis, I will start with Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile.

Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as bheith anseo. I am deputising for my colleague Senator Paul Gavan so I hope the Minister of State will accept a lesser Senator in this instance.

The Bill is a necessary piece of housekeeping effectively to validate all expenditure by Departments approved under the Estimates and Supplementary Estimates processes. Previously, this housekeeping was done without debate and discussion. I welcome, therefore, the introduction in recent years of additional debate on the subject. However, further serious consultation on spending is required. There has been some reform but it is unfortunately a procedural rubber-stamping of public expenditure choices made by the Government. The Minister of State is simply informing us of what we already know.

Sinn Féin is fully aware of the choices that this right-wing, conservative Government has made throughout 2016 and understands the consequences of yet another year of elitism and conservatism in government. Evidence of gross inequality in our society is widespread. This is shameful. We can derive evidence from the homelessness crisis, the health crisis and the inequality in the education sector. We, as representatives of the public, have a responsibility to do our utmost to deliver a fair and equal society. However, the choices the Government has made and continues to make achieve the exact opposite.

According to a recently published TASC report, the percentage of the population living in deprivation rose from 26% in 2015 to 29% in 2016. The cost of living rose from 21.2% to 25.1% in 2016. The total wealth share of the bottom 50% fell from 12% to 4.9%. This State has the second lowest level of public capital investment in the entire European Union. This is at the same time as having a major housing crisis, with 2,426 children homeless in emergency accommodation. According to HSE audit figures, more than twice as many patients were languishing on trolleys for longer than nine hours in November 2016 than in November 2014. Circumstances are not getting any better. In fact, they are getting worse. Whatever choices this Government is making are clearly not delivering for ordinary working people. Let it be made clear that there is no coincidence in all of this. The economic inequality that is evidently on the increase across the State is a direct result of Government policy and the unequal nature of how money is spent.

What Sinn Féin wants for this State is to see a complete change of direction. We want to see an increase in capital expenditure in order to build much-needed homes, schools and health facilities. In our alternative budget, we have costed for additional expenditure of €490 million on housing to ensure that 7,000 families will be provided with somewhere to live and the security that comes with that. We have costed for €150 million in health to ensure the trolley crisis is addressed and for the HSE to work towards reaching HIQA standards. We have also costed for an additional €179 million in education. No longer can we leave children behind in this society. All children deserve an equal chance, which, of course, begins with education.

Above all else, Sinn Féin is committed to developing an all-island economy that supports jobs and growth. Just last week, we launched Towards a United Ireland, a comprehensive document that sets out our vision for this island and the costings behind what would truly be an equal society. I hope every Member has an opportunity to read it. If not, they can get copies from me.

This rubber-stamping procedure is simply not good enough when it comes to the annual validation of Government expenditure. We need to see much more time invested in the equality-proofing of Government expenditure. That is something to which the Upper House could very well devote time and in which it could find a role for itself.

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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When we see the Appropriation Bill come before the House every year, we know Christmas is at hand. I welcome the Minister of State to the House and wish him a very happy Christmas and all the best for the new year. I wish a happy Christmas to the Acting Chairman, the Members and the staff, who have done great work over what has been a very long year since the beginning of January.

The Appropriation Bill makes provision in law for the carrying over of unspent capital into the first days of January for the payment of social welfare and pensions so recipients will not be left short when they go to the post office or elsewhere to collect their money. The maximum that the Appropriation Bill will allow to be paid out in these circumstances is €200 million.Over the years, we have seen many local authorities, health services and various Departments get a certain amount of funding that they do not spend over the year. In some cases, many of those Departments and local authorities rush to spend the funding before the end of the year. Does this Bill mean that there is no need for that, that funding can be held off until the following year and that the works can be carried on into 2017, as in this case, rather than spending the money very quickly and, in some cases, making rash and poor decisions? I would much prefer to see moneys like that carried over so that we get the best value for money in the following year. In these circumstances, does the Appropriation Bill allow for funding of this nature to be carried over? I see that funding carried over this year is €77 million. In respect of this figure, the Minister of State said that some capital projects have been carried over but there are capital and current projects. Could the Minister of State explain what can and cannot be carried over? Other than that, I welcome the Bill and will not hold up its passage through the House in any way.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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As no other Senators are indicating that they would like to contribute, I call on the Minister of State to conclude.

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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In respect of the Senator's question, up to a maximum of 10% of the voted budget in capital spending can be carried forward into the next year. This is the practice that is now in place. As the Senator rightly pointed out, it is a good thing to be able to do in terms of managing budgets. When it comes to capital spend, it can be sometimes difficult to meet the spend in the 12-year cycle so the carryover is very helpful there but it is only to a maximum of 10%. It does not work that way with current expenditure so if there is a shortfall or a saving to be made, that can be reallocated. That would be the best way that money would then be used or surrendered back to Exchequer for the Government to reallocate to another Department if it was coming from one Department to another.

I thank Senator Ó Donnghaile for his very informative contribution. I do not want to get into a full debate around the budget because we already had that opportunity here but I will note on the record that spending on capital and education is up. In particular, a very good part of the Finance Bill related to early learning initiatives, which we all agree are a very important part of Government priorities regarding how we spend our money and what we see as the public good. In terms of the process around this and the opportunity we have to debate the issues here today, I note the reforms introduced by the Government regarding the budgetary process which will continue into next year and which will be enhanced. Insofar as the Department is concerned, this year, we moved to more transparency in the documents we publish and when we publish them. There is also greater engagement through the new Committee on Budgetary Oversight, which will improve and be enhanced when additional resources are given to it in terms of a dedicated unit to help Deputies and Senators to be able to debate particular issues around the budget and their own ideas as well and to have them properly costed so that we can have a fully informed budgetary process in 2017 looking into 2018.

Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail)
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When is it proposed to take Committee Stage?

Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)
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Now.