Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Evaluations of Government expenditure are a vital component of the public expenditure management framework, and are central to ensuring and demonstrating the appropriate use of public money.

As with other business, evaluations are planned and conducted by individual Government Departments dealing with policies which fall under their Departmental remit.

One of the main initiatives by Department to support the expenditure management framework is the Spending Review process which tracks and facilitates some of the evaluation work being done across Departments. The Spending Review takes place across three-year cycles; two cycles have so far been completed, having previously run from 2017-2019 and 2020-2022.

The 2023 Spending Review takes place outside of the traditional multi-year cycle, in order to facilitate the piloting of a number of reforms aimed at enhancing impact; I will discuss this in more detail shortly.

Since 2017, a total of 177 formal Spending Review papers have been published, on a variety of policy issues including labour market, health, climate, housing, childcare, to name a few, with more Departments routinely assessing key policies and programmes as part of the spending review processes.

While the Spending Review process is coordinated and facilitated by my Department, the identification and selection of topics, project scoping, analysis, and drafting are all conducted on a decentralised basis, with each Department responsible for areas and policy questions that fall within their own remit, and for managing the execution of the analysis and the follow-up policy reforms, where relevant.

Specifically in relation to the selection of topics for review in the coming calendar year, while the Spending Review cycle takes place over three years, Departments are not required to submit the full list of areas subject to review in advance of the cycle. Instead, analytical and policy units in their respective Departments identify and plan their expected research projects in tandem with general business planning. This process, which is overseen by line-management structures, takes place with consideration of unit capacity, strategic priorities, and business needs. Business planning generally takes place at the end of the calendar year; my Department therefore expects to have a preliminary list of areas subject to evaluation in 2024 in the coming months.

In relation to reforms of the Spending Review, following a consultation process with key stakeholders via the cross departmental Steering Group, Spending Review 2023 is trialing a number of reforms that aim to increase the impact of the spending review process. Following an appraisal of the Spending Review process during 2022 it was proposed that the 2023 iteration would see:

• The introduction of Technical Review Groups (formed thematically to replace or supplement the current Subgroup process);
• Changes to the Steering Group (to bring in a streamlined approach with a more strategic focus).
• These changes were proposed along with some operational improvements such as revisions to the format of the scoping documents, the format of the templates, and the feedback process.

In addition, more minor reforms were made which formalise the engagement and consultation processes and to encourage a wider focus on impact for the evaluations. The impact of the changes introduced will be assessed at the end of this year, with a view to wider rollout as part of the 2024-2026 Spending Review cycle.