Written answers
Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
Departmental Budgets
Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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370. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the total in budget overruns, if they occurred, by each Government Department, by year, from 2015 to 2024. [48367/25]
Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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371. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the measures in place to ensure that Government Departments stay within their allocated budget; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48368/25]
Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 370 and 371 together.
Vote allocations are decided as part of the Estimates process each year and voted on by the Dáil at the time of the Revised Estimates for Public Services (REV).
My Department works from the centre of government to drive the delivery of better public services, living standards and infrastructure for the people of Ireland. We are responsible for public expenditure policies and frameworks designed to support public expenditure management.
Managing the delivery of public services within budgetary allocations is the responsibility of each Minister and their Department, who are required to ensure that appropriate measures are in place to facilitate financial control within budgetary targets.
My Department is in regular communication with all spending Departments and Offices in respect of the management of expenditure within the agreed overall fiscal parameters, and provides ongoing monitoring of aggregate expenditure on a monthly basis, published in the Fiscal Monitor.
As part of my Department’s role supporting the appropriate use of public funds across government bodies, it establishes the governance frameworks, or rules, setting out the principles and procedures for how money should be spent. The aim of these rules is to support Accounting Officers in discharging their responsibility to ensure expenditure is managed in line with the Voted allocation and that services are delivered in an effective and efficient manner to support the achievement of value for money.
Examples of the governance frameworks which are in place include:
- The Code of Practice of the Governance of State Bodies,
- the Public Financial Procedures,
- the Infrastructure Guidelines,
- the Public Procurement Guidelines; and
- Arrangements for oversight of Digital/IT projects and initiatives.
Where a Department has additional expenditure demands over and above the amounts set out in the REV, and where any savings identified are not sufficient to cover the cost of such additional demands, a Supplementary Estimate may be required. These are brought before the Dáil, to relevant committee and voted by the Dáil.
Over the period 2015 to 2024, the tracking of overspends against allocation by Department is complicated by the changing structure of Government Departments and the movement of functions between Departments. In a given point of time, the Estimate for a Vote is representative of the spending of the functions of that Vote as they are in effect at that point.
At the end of each financial year, each vote is required to prepare an Appropriation Account. The Comptroller and Auditor General performs the audit of the appropriation accounts, including detail of additional funds provided by Supplementary Estimate. These are available on the C&AG website (audit.gov.ie), for each year 2015 – 2023.
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