Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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145. To ask the Minister for Finance how he calculates spending by local authorities for the purposes of the expenditure benchmark and in the calculation of fiscal space; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14185/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Fiscal space is estimated using the Expenditure Benchmark.  The starting point for the Expenditure Benchmark calculations is General Government expenditure as per European System of Accounts 2010 (ESA 2010), which is the aggregate consolidated expenditure of the Central Government sub-sector and the Local Government sub-sector.  So Local Authorities expenditure is treated in the same way as the other components of General Government expenditure.

Expenditure of local government comprises both current and capital expenditure and includes expenditures by all non-market corporations under local government control. These data are produced in accordance with ESA 2010.