Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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209. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the cost of meeting additional demographic pressures on services and entitlements by his Department in the period 2017 to 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39452/15]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Ministerial expenditure ceilings are decided by the Government within the context of the overall Government expenditure ceiling required to ensure that our fiscal targets are achieved, and have a statutory basis in the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2013.

The Expenditure Report 2016 published by my Department on Budget day outlines Ministerial Ceilings for Current Expenditure in the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.

The multi-annual voted expenditure ceilings allow for greater transparency in the allocation of resources across Government Departments over a three year horizon and facilitate the work of the Oireachtas in engaging with Ministers and their Departments their spending priorities.

The ceilings for these years take into account demographic pressures arising in the Departments of Health, Social Protection and Education and Skills. Also, taken into consideration in these ceilings is the roll-out of the Rural Development Programme, the carry-over impact of certain Budget 2016 measures and a forecast reduction in the number of people on the Live Register.

In 2017 an additional €720m has been allocated for these purposes with an additional €616m allocated for 2018. These amounts are included in Table A9 on page C51 of the Budget 2016 book. This table also provides increases to Voted expenditure reflecting estimated demographic pressures in the period 2019 to 2021.