Written answers

Wednesday, 19 October 2016

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Public Expenditure Policy

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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105. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he remains satisfied that public expenditure projections remain on course and are likely to remain on course throughout the current year; the specific areas of a vital infrastructural nature which might require extra expenditure; if such expenditure remains possible while maintaining prudent management principles and objectives; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31169/16]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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106. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which the economy continues to benefit from public sector and general reform over the past number of years; if he expects the benefits from such reforms to continue to accrue into the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31170/16]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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107. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the degree to which he continues to take account of and have regard for the impact of wage restraints and cost cutting throughout the public sector with particular reference to the impact on individual public service at all levels in view of the impact of the ongoing economic situation; if he envisages any particular areas that might offer some relief in this area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31171/16]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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108. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will identify the most effective policies pursued by his Department over the past five years in terms of addressing the economic needs of the country with a view to identifying the most likely and effective strategy to be followed in terms of public expenditure and reform for the future and the future economic needs of the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31172/16]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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109. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he remains satisfied regarding the adequacy of the budget for each Department to meet its requirements over the next 12 months; if any particular measures are required to address specific issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31173/16]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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111. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which reform, as a component in economic strategy, continues to achieve savings in line with projections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31175/16]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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112. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the degree to which ongoing analysis takes place throughout each Department and its subsidiary bodies to identify where any adjustments might be possible to encourage economic growth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31176/16]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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113. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he expects to be in a position in the course of the next year to address increased expenditure requirements where infrastructural deficits have been identified which might require capital expenditure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31177/16]

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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114. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he expects to be in a position to reward or incentivise Departments or authorities, State or semi-State bodies that have achieved particularly satisfactory results over the past four years to date in respect of targets set to achieve savings or cuts in public expenditure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31178/16]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 105 to 109, inclusive, and 111 to 114, inclusive, together.

Reviewing voted expenditure for the current year, gross voted expenditure of €39,836 million to end-September was €439 million (1.1%) below profile, with gross voted current expenditure €364 million (1.0%) below profile and gross voted capital expenditure €76 million (3.4%) below profile. In relation to specific areas of an infrastructural nature which might require extra expenditure, as set out in the Expenditure Report 2017, it is estimated that an additional €200 million of capital funding will be required for necessary repair work to transport infrastructure arising from flood damage at the start of the year and for expenditure arising from the rescheduling of school building works. This was signalled in the Mid-Year Expenditure Report in July and the inclusion of this capital expenditure in the revised expenditure ceiling for 2016 was set out in the Expenditure Report published last week.

Over the last number of years, my Department had a key role in ensuring Ireland met or exceeded its key fiscal targets in each year of the EU/IMF programme of financial support resulting in a successful exit from the programme in December 2013 and from the Excessive Deficit Procedure at the end of 2015. Sustainable public finances will remain essential for continued economic and social progress.  The reformed Stability and Growth Pact will also be an important aspect of budgetary planning in the future, ensuring a closer alignment of expenditure growth with the medium-term potential growth rate of the economy.

There is an ongoing requirement to implement reforms that improve how public services are delivered, and that achieve savings which can be reinvested in frontline services.  The Public Service has delivered significant productivity gains and service improvements over the last number of years, as set out in the Annual Progress Report on the Public Service Reform Plan (published April 2016).  We must build on this progress, and it is essential that targeted recruitment and investment in public services is done in tandem with further public service reform measures. This includes, for example, more digital delivery of services, improved customer service and business processes, and greater use of shared services.  When Departments identify savings arising from such reform measures, such savings are in general made available to Departments to reinvest in the delivery of services.  It is also very important to ensure that the public service workforce operates in a manner which maximises the positive impact on public service provision of the increased numbers announced in the Estimates for 2017.

In my Statement on the Expenditure Estimates on Budget day I announced that a spending review will take place in advance of Budget 2018. It is anticipated that this review will provide more policy options on a number of Government priorities. As set out in the Expenditure Report 2017, between 2014 and 2017, gross voted expenditure is forecast to grow by 9%. This is in comparison to three year expenditure growth figures of between 26% and 57% experienced in the 1999 to 2008 period. A return to such unsustainable levels of increase is not possible. Therefore, with an ongoing requirement for cost restraint, the systematic examination of baseline expenditure is required to ensure that resources are directed towards emerging and agreed public service priorities.

Policy decisions for a wide variety of expenditure items are informed by an ongoing level of analysis. An example of this is the work carried out by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES). Several policy papers were published alongside Budget 2017 and are available on the Budget.gov.ie website. Furthermore, a review of the Capital Plan will take place in 2017. While the final details of the process for the review are currently being put in place, previously this type of process has involved rigorous analysis, both internally in my Department as well as in other Government Departments, on how best to allocate our scarce capital resources in order to achieve the best value for money while also meeting the Government's priorities for economic and social progress. As set out in the Mid-year Expenditure Report, the Government is committed to investing a further €5.14 billion in the period 2017 to 2021, over and above the amounts included in the Capital Plan published in September last year. The first part of this additional amount is reflected in the allocations for 2017 set out in the Budget Estimates.

Regarding the issue of Departmental allocations being sufficient, Budget 2017 represents the third consecutive year in which the Government was in a position to allocate additional resources to public spending. Gross voted expenditure in 2017 is to increase by €1.9 billion compared to 2016. As well as including €0.9 billion for various expenditure pre-commitments such as demographic related costs and the Lansdowne Road Agreement, there was €1 billion allocated for additional measures including: additional staffing in Health, Justice and Education; progressing the Action Plan for Housing in 2017; the introduction of a new single Affordable Childcare Scheme; and a number of increases to Social Welfare rates.

The Deputy will appreciate in light of the foregoing, that a series of important measures are in place or being planned in order to ensure that, for the future, that is an intensified ongoing focus on the totality of resources allocated to current and capital public spending, rather than on the proportionately small volume of additional new resources available for funding service developments announced at budget time.

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