Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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279. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if as part of the 2017 spending review, a comprehensive review of expenditure ceilings will take place that will include the process of assigning expenditure ceilings and applying penalties for breaking the ceilings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40718/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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In my speech accompanying the publication of the Estimates for 2017, I announced that a spending review will be undertaken prior to Budget 2018. As the Deputy will be aware, as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform I have consistently reiterated the need to consider the totality of government spending when examining expenditure priorities. Spending reviews previously played an important role in our successful efforts to reverse unsustainable expenditure growth that was a major contributor to the fiscal crisis.

The proposed spending review to be undertaken next year is an integral part of the reformed public expenditure architecture drawing on the lessons learned from previous spending reviews. The purpose of future spending reviews will be to ensure that all expenditure is examined when Government is deciding on its spending priorities for the Estimates. Better information and stronger evaluations should also guide and inform those decisions examining the effectiveness of spending in terms of its objectives and the efficiency with which these objectives are secured.

I have also previously indicated that my Department would also examine proposals on the options available for reinforcing the role of three-year expenditure ceilings in restoring stability to Ireland's public finances and for sustaining this stability over the medium-term period. It is appropriate to review this design of the medium-term expenditure framework in parallel to the spending review process to assess its continued appropriateness in the changed fiscal, economic and political context. As such, the approach to setting medium-term ceilings remains under consideration and will continue to be examined in parallel to the spending review process.