Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for Finance if any Departments have furnished him with proposed performance indicators for measuring the impact of public spending; and if he will arrange to have these presented to the relevant Oireachtas committee for consideration. [10195/07]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Responsibility for sectoral policy and the management of programmes rests with individual Ministers and their Departments. The development of performance indicators is an integral part of the development of sectoral policies and Value for Money and Policy Reviews and evaluations carried out by Departments.

As part of the Government's reforms of the Estimates and Budget process announced by me in Budget 2006, Ministers are required commencing in 2007 to present an annual output statement in tandem with their Estimates to assist the Select Committees with their consideration of the Estimates. The annual output statements for 2007 will set out performance output targets by programme and impact indicators linked to the high level goals in Departments' strategy statements. For 2008 onwards, the statements will set out actual outturns against the previous year's output targets and new targets for the year under consideration.

The first such annual output statement was presented to the Select Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs on 7th March by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. All Ministers are due to present their Annual Output Statements to the relevant Select Committees within the next two weeks. I will be presenting the Finance Group output statement to the Finance and Public Service Committee on Thursday.