Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1912. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the underspend of the capital allocation to her Department in 2022, including transfers to current expenditure and deferral of the allocation to 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1362/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Following a supplementary estimate in November 2022 the gross allocation for the Department of Rural and Community Development in 2022 was €388.7 million, of which €194.8 million was current funding and €193.9 million was capital funding.

While a draft Appropriation Account is in preparation for submission to the Comptroller and Auditor General in March 2023, the provisional out-turn for the Department is estimated at €372.3 million, of which €202.3 million was current and €170 million was capital expenditure. In addition, €14.5 million in capital funding is being carried forward from 2022 for use in 2023. Therefore, the total combined gross spend and capital carry forward stood at €386.8 million, giving a gross saving of around €2 million, or 0.5% of the Department's budget. Around half of these savings related to administration and payroll savings.

The current spend of €202.3 million was around €7.5 million above the provision, with provisional virement sanction from capital to current in place for up to €10.5 million for costs relating to supports for the Ukraine response. The capital spend of €170 million along with the capital carry forward to 2023 amounts to €184.5 million in 2022. The aforementioned €7.5 million towards current Ukraine supports means that total capital resources of €192 million are accounted for through capital spend, capital carry forward, and current Ukraine supports. In addition to that spend, a capital carry forward of €16.86 million from 2021 to 2022 was fully utilised in 2022.

I would again note that these figures are provisional, with a draft Appropriation Account not due for submission until late March 2023. It should also be noted that the final movements of funds from capital to current remain subject to full sanction by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform in early 2023, in line with public financial guidance.

The use of available resources across our programmes and schemes in 2022 represents an excellent outcome, which was made possible through proactive management of capital funding in particular. A strong pipeline of approved capital projects is in place which will ensure continued strong spend in 2023.