Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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197. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform for a breakdown of the line item, other voted expenditure, including demographics for each of the years 2016 to 2021 inclusive, contained in the 2016 budget manual, page C 51, table A9, line 4. [5578/16]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The line item referred to in the Deputy's question is reflected- in so far as the period 2017-2018 is concerned - in Table 4 on page 31 of Expenditure Report 2016 published by my Department in October 2015. This Table sets out the Current Expenditure Ceilings across Government Departments for the three year period 2016 to 2018. As the Deputy will be aware, three year Ministerial Expenditure Ceilings have a statutory basis in the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2013. 

Excluding the impact of the Lansdowne Road Agreement, the gross current expenditure ceilings increase by €0.4 billion in 2017 and €0.3 billion in 2018. These increases take into account:

- projected expenditure pressures in Health, Education and Social Protection arising from demographics;

- projected additional expenditure in Agriculture arising from the roll-out of the Rural Development Programme; and

- the projected carry over impact of certain Budget 2016 measures.

It should be noted that the ceiling for the Department of Social Protection reflects an adjustment to take account of expected lower numbers on the Live Register, with expenditure being reallocated to meet demographic demands.

Ministerial Expenditure Ceilings in respect of current expenditure have not been set for periods after 2018. Consequently, the figures included in Table A9 of the Budget book published by the Department of Finance for periods post 2018, use the aggregate overall amount of €0.3 billion included for 2018, adjusted for a lower amount being available for reallocation within expenditure from Live Register savings.