Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Evaluation of Government expenditure is a vital component of the public expenditure management framework. This goal is fully embedded across Government and is progressed in a number of ways from the day-to-day management of resources, regular engagement across Departments and through the public service reform programme. It is also progressed through a range of budgetary reform initiatives including,:

• NDP and Infrastructure Guidelines;

• Performance and Equality Budgeting and

• Spending Reviews.

These reforms broaden the approach to how public expenditure is appraised, implemented and evaluated, working in tandem with wider initiatives such as the establishment of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES) which enhances the role of economics and analysis in policy making.

One of the main initiatives to support the expenditure management framework is the Spending Review process, which tracks and facilitates some of the evaluation work undertaken across Departments. This process involves individual Departments choosing an expenditure or policy area to review and conducting analysis that improves our knowledge of and the data around that policy or programme with the aim of making it more effective and efficient.

From 2017 the formal evaluation process, through the foundation of the Spending Review, moved from a centralised approach to one that facilitated Departments to analyse the efficiency and effectiveness of their own policy areas. This widened the scope for Departments to develop the concept of evidence informed policy.

To date 183 reviews have been published. The reviews cover a range of expenditure areas including Health, Enterprise, Social Protection, Education, and public service pay. One of the key trends emerging in recent years has been the move to a broader range of Departments publishing their own papers and working collaboratively on joint papers. The uptake now is roughly 50:50 between papers published by line Departments and those published by my Department.

In relation to reforms, following consultation with key stakeholders, the 2023 Spending Review trialed reforms that aimed to increase the impact of the process including;

• The introduction of Technical Review Groups; and

• Changes to the Steering Group for a more streamlined, strategic approach.

Operational improvements were made too, with revisions to the format of the scoping documents and review templates alongside formalisation of the consultation processes. The impact of these changes is being reviewed and will be assessed by the Interdepartmental Steering Group overseeing this valued process.

In relation to the reviews for 2024, business plans are currently being finalised and my Department expects to have a preliminary list of areas subject to evaluation in 2024 in the coming months.