Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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In recent years the Government’s public expenditure policy has allowed for a proactive and balanced approach to fiscal policy while also being flexible in addressing economic trends and unforeseen events.

A dual pronged approach was taken by the Government where non-core expenditure, temporary in nature, was used as part of the response to key economic and social challenges while the core expenditure continued to be assessed in terms of changes to existing levels of service and the particular demands within each Department.

This approach of separating core and non-core expenditure enabled the Government to:

• Ensure adequate provision of supports while protecting core day-to-day expenditure;

• Provide transparency on the costs of driven by external challenges;

• Facilitate withdrawal of supports when no longer required by ensuring these costs did not become embedded in permanent expenditure.

This has been largely successful, with non-core spending reducing year-on-year since the start of the pandemic. It has reduced from over €15 billion at the height of the pandemic to a provision of just over €5 billion this year, including the final tranche of benefits from the Cost of Living package in the Budget 2024.

Central to any best practice, my Department regularly engages in international fora, including with OECD working parties and committees in order to gain insights and share in discussions surrounding fiscal policy. These discussions, focussing on areas such as budgetary reforms and evaluation practices, strengthen our ability to respond to economic, social and environmental challenges.

As part of my Department’s reform programme, resources are committed to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of policy delivery, and improve and support the evaluation capacity of line Departments. This is supported by the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service (IGEES).

In the forthcoming Summer Economic Statement I will again assess expenditure in line with any significant changes in the economy.