Written answers
Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
Departmental Data
Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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373. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to provide a breakdown of total voted expenditure distinguishing once-off measures from recurring commitments in each of the past three fiscal years; the methodology used by his Department in classifying temporary supports; and the measures being taken to restore fiscal discipline and transparency in future multi-annual expenditure frameworks. [54752/25]
Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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My Department published the Medium Term Expenditure Framework in September 2025. This included an analysis of temporary expenditure. This expenditure provided flexibility to respond to external shocks while protecting day-to-day investment in public services. Non-core expenditure was €4.6 billion in 2023 and €4.3 billion in 2024. Separately in 2023 and 2024, €2.9 billion and €3.1 billion was spent respectively on Cost of Living supports. These two categories accounted for 8% of total expenditure in 2023 and 7% of total expenditure in 2024.
Budget 2025 set out planned expenditure of €105.4 billion for 2025, of which €4.5 billion was a contingency reserve reflecting a continued uncertain international environment. For 2025 this provision is providing funding for the humanitarian assistance to arrivals from Ukraine, temporary funding to relieve the pressures on agencies and Departments providing services to people seeking International Protection, legacy pandemic impacts on the health service and certain European capital funding programmes such as RePower EU.
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 engages in regular bilateral discussions with Departments to assess the sustainability of their spending plans. All expenditure lines are reviewed as part of the annual Estimates process.
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.
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