Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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166. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if his Department has assessed the impact of overruns in Budget 2025, from the originally planned €3bn in new expenditure to the estimated €8.5bn; and if he will publish the corrective measures being applied. [54424/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Budget 2025 set out planned expenditure of €105.4 billion for 2025. Earlier this year, Government agreed to increase the ceiling by €0.9 billion to facilitate additional capital funding for the key areas of Housing and Education. This brought the Government Expenditure Ceiling for 2025 to €106.4 billion.

The Summer Economic Statement in July 2025 set out a revised Government Expenditure Ceiling for 2025 of €108.7 billion. This represented an increase of €2.3 billion from the revised ceiling of €106.4 billion. This additional funding consists of €1 billion current and €1.3 billion capital expenditure. This revision was made by Government to reflect policy choices to further support the delivery of key social and economic priorities as set out in the Budget 2026 documentation.

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.

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.

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 reporting and monitoring of aggregate expenditure on a monthly basis, published in the Fiscal Monitor.

Chapter 3 of the Budget 2026 Expenditure Report details a series of reform proposals by sector to enhance spending efficiency.