Written answers
Thursday, 16 June 2005
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Departmental Funding
5:00 pm
Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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Question 109: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of unspent money returned by his Department to the Department of Finance each year since 1997; the total departmental budget for each year since 1997; the projects for which this money was originally earmarked; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20436/05]
Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The figures for Estimates allocations and expenditure for my Department for the years in question are as follows:
| Year | Estimate | Expenditure | Amount surrendered |
| â'¬ | â'¬ | â'¬ | |
| 1997 | 914,925,000 | 904,595,000 | 10,330,000 |
| 1998 | 1,025,287,000 | 973,579,000 | 51,708,000 |
| 1999 | 1,101,744,000 | 1,035,147,000 | 66,597,000 |
| 2000 | 1,060,380,000 | 1,007,318,000 | 53,062,000 |
| 2001 | 1,092,880,000 | 1,045,811,000 | 47,069,000 |
| 2002 | 1,141,357,000 | 1,107,155,000 | 34,202,000 |
| 2003 | 1,086,654,000 | 1,028,225,000 | 58,429,000 |
| 2004 | 1,124,471,000 | 1,035,205,000 | 89,266,000* |
| *Of which €34.2 million carried over to 2005. |
The amounts surrendered over the years in question comprised balances across a wide range of subheads in the Department's Vote. The more significant amounts have frequently arisen from demand-led provisions where my Department has limited control over final demand. Receipts arising from high demand for work permits and Companies Registration Office receipts have also contributed to end of year surrenders to the Exchequer.
Explanations of the causes of any variations in excess of 5% between outturn and Estimate provision are set out in the Department's appropriation account, published annually with the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The report is laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas, and should be available from the Oireachtas Library. Volumes of the report and appropriation accounts for the years 2000 to 2003, inclusive, can also be accessed on the website of the Office of the Comptroller andAuditor General at http://audgen.gov.ie/ViewDoc.asp?DocId=-1&CatID=3.
In 2004, the Government implemented a new five-year multi-annual framework for capital expenditure which will provide a more secure framework within which capital programmes can be planned and implemented. Under the terms of that programme, Departments may carry over unspent Exchequer capital allocations from one year to the next, subject to a limit of 10% of the annual allocation. Accordingly, €34.237 million has been carried over from 2004 for disbursement in 2005.
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