Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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238. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the expenditure items in 2017 which are Government priorities but which are not included in Department Votes; the way in which he plans to provide for commitments on public sector pay in bringing forward provisions of the Lansdowne Road agreement, the refund of water charges and payment in December 2017 of the Christmas bonus and other commitments not factored into spending; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36004/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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On Budget day last October, the Government set out its priorities in relation to expenditure measures for 2017 in Expenditure Report 2017, with the Budget Estimates published in that report reflecting these measures. The Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services 2017 (REV) provided additional details in relation to these Estimates and also reflected additional allocations of just over €40 million to take account of changes since Budget day, with the most significant being that in relation to the Garda pay following the recommendations by the Labour Court.

Departments are required to manage expenditure within the allocations set out in the REV and agreed by the Dáil. Where new priorities emerge in the course of the year which must be met within the approved allocation for each Department, any reallocation of funding from one area, where there may be an emerging underspend, to meet such new priorities would be made in accordance with Public Financial Procedures.

Following the Labour Court Recommendations with respect to Garda pay the Government had to act to ensure that the Lansdowne Road Agreement would remain intact.  The agreement reached, to bring forward by five months, from September to April, pay increases due under the Lansdowne Road, has a cost in 2017 of €0.12 billion. As outlined in the Mid-Year Expenditure Report, at this stage three months of this additional cost is reflected in expenditure to the end of June with the cost arising this year to be met from available public resources taking into account the scope for reallocation of expenditure arising from the emerging expenditure position later in the year. This position will be monitored closely in order to assess how to meet any additional funding requirements where the need arises.

Turning to the Christmas Bonus, the position for 2017 is essentially unchanged from the position that prevailed for the last three years. The Christmas Bonus to long-term Social Welfare recipients had been abolished in 2009. On Budget day in October 2014, it was announced that a 25% Christmas Bonus would be paid in December of that year.  On Budget day in October 2015, a Christmas Bonus of 75% was announced. Demonstrating the Government's commitment to our most vulnerable citizens, an increased 85% bonus was paid in 2016 as set out in my Estimates Statement on Budget day last year. In each of these years, the REV did not include a specific allocation in respect of a Social Welfare Christmas bonus, in line with the practice that such payments are funded based on the fiscal position at Budget time. The payment of a Christmas Bonus has required a Supplementary Estimate in each of the last three years. In 2016 the Department of Social Protection required a Supplementary Estimate of €109 million to provide for the Christmas Bonus, with a broadly similar amount being paid from the funds available in the Social Insurance Fund. The extent to which a Supplementary Estimate would be required to fund a decision in relation to a Christmas Bonus would depend on the projected outturn at Budget time in relation to spending in the Department of Social Protection, which in net terms at the end of June was €41 million below profile, and also the surplus on the Social Insurance Fund, which as outlined in the June Analytical Exchequer Statement was €132 million ahead of profile, driven by strong growth in PRSI receipts. The approach to be adopted in relation to meeting the funding requirements of a decision in relation to a Christmas Bonus in 2017 will therefore follow the approach adopted in the last three years. 

Turning to the specific issue of refunds of water charges, which will be in effect a one-off charge in the year of payment, it is anticipated that the cost arising this year in relation to the refund of water charges will be met within available Exchequer resources taking into account the revenue, expenditure and overall fiscal policy position later in the year.