Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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82. To ask the Taoiseach and Minister for Defence the amount returned by his Department to the Exchequer for the past four years by year in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6927/22]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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On an annual basis, the Defence Sector budget, comprising of Vote 35 (Army Pensions) and Vote 36 (Defence), is determined within the overarching budgetary framework and approved by Dáil Éireann, with multi-annual capital envelopes determined as part of the overarching National Development Plan.

The return of amounts to the Exchequer from the Defence Sector budget arises for two reasons. Appropriations in Aid are amounts received by the Department and include payments from the UN and other organisations. Government accounting rules require that any additional Appropriations in Aid received, above the estimate, must be surrendered to the Exchequer. In addition, any amount of the budget allocation not fully expended must also be surrendered.

Expenditure under the Army Pensions Vote is essentially demand-driven and non-discretionary. In any given year, it is very difficult to predict accurately the exact number of voluntary early retirements from the Defence Forces with entitlement to immediate payment of retirement benefits and as a result, there can be an underspend or a requirement for additional funding. Such additional funding is met through the Supplementary Estimate process. In 2018, an additional €3.5 million was required and in 2019, an additional €1.9 million was needed. These amounts were met from savings in the Defence Vote.

In relation to the Defence Vote, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, any savings arising in the Vote, when not utilised to meet requirements in the Army Pensions Vote, are normally reallocated to address spending pressures elsewhere in the Defence Vote. However in 2021, similar to many other Public Service organisations, the impact of Covid-19 and supply chain difficulties limited the extent to which my Department was able to re-direct these savings.

The tables below show the Net Exchequer Surrender and its constituent elements, including the total underspend for both Votes.

Table 1 – Vote 35 Army Pensions

*provisional figures

Table 2 – Vote 36 Defence

*provisional figures