Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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242. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he continues to meet targets in public expenditure and reform; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18071/24]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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At the core of our strategy to meet targets is the Medium-Term Expenditure Strategy (MTES), which serves two fundamental objectives: to ensure the long-term sustainability of core expenditure growth and to safeguard investments in public services. This framework undergoes annual review as part of the comprehensive budgetary process, including the Estimates process and the Summer Economic Statement, ensuring responsiveness to the evolving economic landscape.

My Department plays a key role in developing and monitoring overall expenditure in line with Government objectives and agreed fiscal policy. My Department also continues to engage with all Departments to monitor and develop our budgetary process with a view to ensuring that value-for-money is delivered across Government projects and programmes.

The Revised Estimates for Public Services 2024 outlined the Government expenditure ceiling of €96.7 billion, with €0.4 billion unallocated, the remainder was allocated to votes. Expenditure profiles for 2024 were then completed by all Votes in February and submitted to my Department. Performance against these profiles is used in-year to monitor the expenditure position. At end Q1 2024, expenditure is €22.8 billion which is in line with profile and year-on-year growth is up by over 2.9 billion (14.9%). Details are set out in the Fiscal Monitor published on the Department of Finance website.

Managing the delivery of public services within budgetary allocations is a key responsibility of each Minister and their Department. My Department is in regular communication with all Departments to ensure expenditure is managed within the overall fiscal parameters. There are a number of supporting processes and procedures in place including:

1. Drawdowns from the Exchequer are monitored against published profiles.
2. Key data and information in relation to voted expenditure is published monthly in the Fiscal Monitor.
3. Quarterly reporting to Government by the main spending Departments on their respective sectors also takes place alongside the overall expenditure management updates provided by my Department.
4. Regular engagement, through a number of fora, between spending Departments and my Department at senior official level.