Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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199. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the total amount accounted for by demographic pressures in precommitted spending and in carryover by Department and budget line for 2018 in terms of the fiscal space; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33100/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Expenditure Report 2017 set out costs of €0.3 billion for 2018 in relation to demographics net of estimated savings of €0.15 billion in Live Register related expenditure arising from continued improvement in employment. The costs relating to demographic developments arise in the Departments of Health, Social Protection and Education. The Deputy may wish to note that the savings currently projected arising from expected improvements in the Live Register will be re-estimated during the Budget Estimates process taking account of the employment situation and projections in relation to unemployment at that time.  There is also an expenditure increase of €40 million included for the Department of Agriculture and Food in relation to the Rural Development Programme. A cost of €0.3bn arising from the Lansdowne Road Agreement was also outlined in Expenditure Report 2017 and will be allocated to individual Departments as part of the Budget 2018 Estimates process. In Table A.7 in the Budget 2017 book, published by the Department of Finance, these expenditure amounts were included in the total of pre-committed expenditure deducted from the gross fiscal space when arriving at the estimated net fiscal space.  In addition, the fiscal space impact of the increase of €0.3 billion in voted capital expenditure built into the Public Capital Plan is also reflected in the pre-committed expenditure.

The carryover impact of Budget 2017 current expenditure measures was also estimated and outlined in Expenditure Report 2017. This totals almost €0.5bn across Social Protection, Education, Health, Housing and Children and Youth Affairs. As these estimates relate to measures being implemented in 2017, they will be impacted by the actual cost and timing of implementation and consequently the estimated costs will be reassessed as part of the 2018 Budget Estimates process. As outlined in Expenditure Report 2017, these costs would need to be met from the available fiscal space in the absence of any reprioritisation of expenditure identified during the Spending Review process. 

The Deputy will be aware that, as noted in the Expenditure Report 2017, under the Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, the Government has committed to a 2018 capital ceiling of €1,113 million for the Department of Housing, Planning, Community & Local Government, an increase of €325 million on the capital ceiling for 2018 published in the Expenditure Report.

* This amount is net of an assumed transfer from the Department of Social Protection that will be reflected in the Social Protection Vote.

Last month, the Government approved the terms of the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018 to 2020. The agreement is now subject to ratification by the membership of the Public Service Unions and Staff Associations. If the agreement is ratified there is a cost of €0.9 billion to be met over the next three years, with €0.18 billion to be met in 2018.