Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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203. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he has advised individual Departments of the spending adjustments that will apply in 2015. [35893/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Government is firmly committed to bringing the General Government Deficit below 3% of GDP by end 2015, and achieving this objective remains the primary fiscal objective of Budget 2015.  

As the Deputy will be aware, there have been several welcome developments in the economy recently, with the labour market enjoying a sustained recovery and economic growth now higher than previously projected, with a positive impact on tax receipts. As a result, we expect that our Budget 2015 objective of bringing the Deficit below 3% can now be achieved with a lower quantum of fiscal adjustment than the €2bn previously estimated.  Of course, downside risks to the public finances remain, the level of public debt is very high, and the ongoing Exchequer borrowing requirement to fund day-to-day public expenditure is unsustainable over the longer term.

As part of the ongoing Comprehensive Review of Expenditure due to be published on Budget day, all Government Departments have been asked to review their spending and to identify measures that will support achieving our fiscal objective.  The CRE is framed in the context of the 2015 expenditure ceilings that were published in Expenditure Report 2014.  Within this context, the recent welcome developments on the fiscal front will allow the Government some space to make decisions to address certain pressures and priorities.  Final decisions in relation to the Budget will reflect updated information on key economic indicators and receipts from taxation.