Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

139. To ask the Minister for Finance the effect on fiscal space if Bus Éireann were to be placed on balance sheet for the purposes of the budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2642/17]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The classification of Bus Éireann as a public corporation was recently reviewed as part of the work the Central Statistics Office (CSO) carried out to complete the Public Corporations Questionnaire for Eurostat.  This questionnaire considered data from annual financial statements up to 2015.  One of the purposes of this questionnaire is to conduct the Market / Non-Market test over a three year period on publicly controlled corporations in order to determine their institutional sector classification.  For Bus Éireann it was determined that, based on their accounts for the years 2013-2015, they covered more than 50% of their costs through sales, or, in their case, operating turnover. On the basis that this does not include any government subventions or grants, the CSO have made the determination that Bus Éireann is classified in the Non-Financial Corporations sector for the period under consideration. The sector classification of Bus Éireann and all other public bodies will continue to be reviewed annually however a sector reclassification would only be considered when a trend of non-market activity is observed over a number of years.

In the circumstances that Bus Éireann or any other entity was reclassified by the CSO and included in the General Government sector the expenditure base used in the expenditure benchmark calculation of fiscal space would be adjusted to reflect the level shift in expenditure. As a result, providing their annual expenditure remained constant, there would be no impact on fiscal space.