Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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126. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the specific reason for the underspend in gross voted expenditure of €7 million as outlined in Appendix V of the June 2018 fiscal monitor; the specific projects that have an underspend; the value of the underspend on each project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31304/18]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The total gross budget allocation for the Defence and Army Pension Votes for 2018 is €946.5m, of which some €77m is allocated for capital expenditure purposes.

The variance of €7m as outline in Appendix V of the June 2018 Fiscal Monitor refers to capital expenditure against profile and is largely due to certain projects not progressing to the planned timeframe. These projects include the procurement of defensive equipment and investment in the Defence Forces built infrastructure and ICT environment. It is expected that capital expenditure will come into line with the profile over the coming months and that the Estimate Provision for 2018 will be fully expended by year-end.

My Department will continue to keep expenditure trends under review and provide monthly expenditure reports to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.