Written answers
Thursday, 30 June 2005
Department of Finance
Fiscal Policy
8:00 pm
Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 266: To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of his Department's budgetary allocation for 2004; the amount of this allocation which was returned to the Department of Finance at year's end; the vote head from which such returned allocations were derived; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23974/05]
Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The 2004 gross allocation to my Department's Vote was €127.753 million. The net allocation, having deducted estimated appropriations-in-aid of €0.412 million, was €127.342 million. The provisional outturn figures for 2004 were €91.579 million gross and €90.548 million net. The provisional surplus for surrender to the Exchequer was €36.794 million.
The 2004 provisional surplus was derived from the subheads set out in the following table and a note has been appended: (a) Where the saving is significant, i.e. where it exceeds €10,000 and represents 25% or more of an administrative subhead allocation, or where it exceeds €10,000 and represents 5% or more of a programme subhead allocation — this is in line with the presentation of such information in the appropriation accounts; (b) Where part of the savings on a subhead were vired to meet additional expenditure on another subhead and as such were not available for surrender to the Exchequer.
| Administrative Subheads — Provisional Savings | Description | Variation (Saving) from Estimate €000 | Note |
| A.1 | Salaries, Wages and Allowances | 1,070 | — |
| A.2 | Travel and Subsistence | 166 | — |
| A.3. | Incidental Expenses | 1,644 | Savings arose primarily in respect of an administrative contingency provision which was not required in 2004. |
| A.4 | Postal and Telecommunications Services | 148 | — |
| A.5 | Office Machinery and Other Office Supplies | 626 | — |
| A.6 | Office Premises Expenses | 90 | — |
| A.7 | Consultancy Services | 270 | The saving is due to reduced and delayed spending on a number of consultancies. |
| A.8. | Centre for Management And Organisation Development | 213 | A number of projects, including a HRMS pension interface, were not proceeded with in 2004. |
| â'¬1.049 million of the above savings were used to offset excess expenditure on subhead A.9 (European Presidency). | — | — | — |
| Programme Subheads — Provisional Savings | Description | Variation (Saving) from Estimate €000 | Note |
| B. | Consultancy Services | 2,523 | Spending under this subhead can vary significantly from year to year due to legal and financial issues. The subhead also contained a programme contingency provision which was not required in 2004. |
| E. | Ordnance Survey Ireland (Grant-In-Aid) | 10,331 | Ordnance Survey Ireland did not require the level of grant-in-aid provided for in the estimate as they had a significant cash surplus accumulated from the previous year. |
| F | Gaeleagras Na Seirbhíse Poiblí | 12 | — |
| G. | Civil Service Arbitration and Appeals Procedures | 24 | There were fewer sittings of the boards in 2004 than anticipated. |
| H.1 | Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Service | 1 | — |
| H.2 | Public Service Benchmarking Body | 1 | Token provision |
| H.3 | Committee for Performance Awards | 10 | The estimate included a provision for consultancy expenditure which, in the event, was not required in 2004. |
| I. | Contribution to the Common Fund for Commodities | 182 | Ireland's expenditure in respect of its contribution to the UN Common Fund for Commodities was less than originally anticipated. |
| J.1. | Structural Funds Technical Assistance and other Costs | 621 | Savings arose as a result of staffing changes, leading to reduced activities and lower programme costs in 2004. €1 million was vired to meet a supplementary estimate for N.2 (Northern Ireland Interreg). |
| J.2. | Technical Assistance costs of Regional Assemblies | 1 | Some €0.5 million was vired to meet a supplementary estimate for N.2 (Northern Ireland Interreg) and a token balance was surrendered to the Exchequer. |
| K. | Committees and Commissions | 120 | This is a demand-led scheme. There was no expenditure under this subhead in 2004 as no situations arose which required investigation by commissions or committees. |
| M. | Change Management Fund | 907 | This shortfall reflects the extent to which Departments and offices did not claim reimbursement of expenditure incurred in relation to projects approved for support by the Fund. |
| N.2 | Northern Ireland Interreg | 100 | Savings of €8.8 million were vired into this subhead, of which €100,000 was unspent at year-end. |
| N.3 | Special EU Programmes Body | 179 | The saving arose due to lower staff costs in 2004. |
| O. | Ireland-Wales and Transnational Interreg | 200 | Expenditure did not reach anticipated levels due, inter-alia, to certain contributions to multi-annual transnational programmes not being called for in 2004. |
| P. | Information Society | 2,098 | A number of projects which were expected to draw down considerable funding in 2004 did not commence or proceeded more slowly than was anticipated. |
| Q. | Civil Service Childcare Initiative | 1,252 | Delays in the identification and purchase of sites for crèches in a number of locations led to the reduced outturn in 2004. Some €1 million was vired to meet a supplementary estimate for N.2 (Northern Ireland Interreg.) and the balance was surrendered to the Exchequer. |
| R. | Procurement Management Reform | 755 | The slower than anticipated roll-out of this programme led to the savings identified. |
| S. | Decentralisation Fund | 13,701 | The estimate of €20 million was to meet any up-front investment required under the Government's decentralisation programme. However, it was subsequently decided to meet the capital costs that arose (site acquisition deposits) from Vote 10 Office of Public Works. €6.299 million was vired to meet a supplementary estimate for N.2 (Northern Ireland Interreg) and the balance was surrendered to the Exchequer. |
| T. | Appropriations-In-Aid | 619 | — |
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