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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 28 Nov 2001

Vol. 545 No. 2

Priority Questions. - Book of Estimates.

Jim Mitchell

Ceist:

24 Mr. J. Mitchell asked the Minister for Finance the reason the column titled Forecast Outturn for 2001 was omitted from the Book of Estimates published recently; the details of the forecast outturn, subhead by subhead and Vote by Vote; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30205/01]

When the 1998 AEV was being published in November 1997 I decided that the summary tables should include information on the forecast outturn for 1997. I regarded this as a useful innovation which would enable the proposed allocations for 1998 to be compared with expected expenditure in 1997. I continued this practice in each of the subsequent three years. However, I decided it would not be appropriate to adopt the same approach this year because I had not had the opportunity when the 2002 AEV was being finalised to deal with the emerging pressures for additional spending across a number of Votes. Instead I adopted the practice, which had been in operation prior to 1997, of including the 2001 Estimate figure as approved by Dáil Éireann.

As the Deputy will be aware, the White Paper on Receipts and Expenditure is published by my Department on the weekend before the budget. The White Paper will be published at the usual time again this year and will, as usual, include the forecast outturn of expenditure for 2001, the pre-budget estimated expenditure in 2002, both voted and non-voted, and Estimates of receipts from taxation in 2002 at pre-budget.

The following table shows the forecast 2001 outturn figures for current and capital expenditure by Vote. These figures reflect the intention to seek Dáil approval for Supplementary Estimates on a number of Votes. The figures may of course be subject to slight revision in light of emerging spending trends.

The total forecast outturn for net voted current expenditure in 2001 is 20,653,734. The total forecast outturn for net voted capital expenditure is 4,947,276. A breakdown of the forecast outturn for 2001 by subhead is not available at this stage in the year. This information will be provided, as usual, in the 2002 Revised Estimates for Public Services which will be published in the spring.

VoteNo.

Service

2001 Forecast OutturnNet Voted Current000s

2001 Forecast OutturnNet Voted Capital000s

1

President's Establishment

1,887

2

Houses of the Oireachtas and European Parliament

64,359

3

Department of the Taoiseach

21,803

6,000

4

Ordnance Survey Ireland

3,441

1,946

5

Central Statistics Office

42,568

2,532

6

Office of the Minister for Finance

85,779

11,753

7

Superannuation and Retired Allowance

164,002

16,966

8

Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General

5,087

9

Office of the Revenue Commissioners

254,224

10

Office of Public Works

133,296

250,132

11

State Laboratory

5,382

12

Secret Service

420

13

Office of the Attorney General

10,684

14

Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions

16,340

15

Valuation Office

6,220

16

Civil Service Commission

11,344

17

Office of the Ombudsman

4,108

18

Chief State Solicitor's Office

25,437

19

Office of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform

160,898

14,363

20

Garda Síochána

898,000

24,530

21

Prisons

260,000

41,120

22

Courts

53,775

26,461

23

Land Registry and Registry of Deeds

27,435

899

24

Charitable Donations and Bequests

390

25

Environment and Local Government

716,478

2,419,419

26

Office of the Minister for Education and Science

233,917

39,363

27

First Level Education

1,298,472

150,451

28

Second Level and Further Education

1,516,504

177,954

29

Third Level and Further Education

1,104,592

194,836

30

Marine and Natural Resources

95,461

122,442

VoteNo.

Service

2001 Forecast OutturnNet Voted Current000s

2001 Forecast OutturnNet Voted Capital000s

31

Agriculture, Food and Rural Development

982,491

107,618

32

Public Enterprise

297,225

439,300

33

Health and Children

5,619,064

373,621

34

Enterprise, Trade and Employment

846,576

226,782

35

Tourism, Sport and Recreation

183,211

92,046

36

Defence

697,194

54,840

37

Army Pensions

124,207

38

Foreign Affairs

135,745

3,928

39

International Co-operation

239,411

40

Social, Community and Family Affairs

4,099,626

9,080

41

An Comhairle Ealaíon

43,068

5,079

42

An Roinn Ealaíon, Oidhreachta, Gaeltacht agus Oileán

157,399

122,855

43

National Gallery

6,215

9,142

44

Flood Relief

1,818

Total

20,653,734

4,947,276

Mr. J. Mitchell: Will the Minister explain why he left this column out of this year's Estimates? Was he not trying to hide something? Was he not admitting in the other sentence he used, about ongoing pressures for additional expenditure, that the Book of Estimates he published was not the real Book of Estimates?

As I pointed out, I introduced the innovation in my first published Estimates volume in November 1997 of publishing the forecast outturn. Until then the only figures that appeared in the AEV was the Estimate approved many months previously. It took no account of revised Estimates that would possibly have been passed and what Supplementaries would be introduced. I took what I thought was an innovative step of publishing what I thought the forecast outturn was going to be. I introduced that.

Why not continue it?

The Deputy can have it in the figures available now but the reason for not doing so is that I wanted the best information available. It was impossible before the AEV to sign off with a number of Departments on what they expected their supplementary demands would be. Supplementary Estimates were put before the House in the last two days which must go to committee and be debated. It was not possible with a number of headings to decide what the outturn would be, particularly with regard to some of the major spending Departments. That was the only reason.

It is funny that the Minister can give figures this week when he could not give them last week. Was he not in fact trying to mislead the media into a false assessment of next year's Estimates? Will he tell us what additional expenditure has now been agreed between his press conference on the Book of Estimates and now that were not included in the Book of Estimates?

The Deputy suggested that the Estimates for 2002 are in doubt. The Estimates for 2002 are those I provided in the AEV. The question relates to why the forecast outturn was not there. I have already elucidated the reasons for not including it on this occasion. I introduced this in the first place much to the chagrin of my Department which opposed the additional work, but it does necessitate trying to get an estimate from various Departments before the AEV, probably in the middle of November, of what their Supplementaries are going to be. The Minister of State, Deputy Cullen, has just told me that the Office of Public Works has only submitted its Supplementary Estimate today.

To buy those expensive premises.

It would have been false to publish a forecast outturn on this occasion by Vote head because it would not have been realistic. I decided to adopt the previous practice. At this stage the Supplementary Estimates from a number of Departments have been put before the House in the last two days and they must go to committees to be voted on. I am therefore in a position to give the Deputy the prospective forecast outturn for 2001, which is subject to the usual revision. There may be some changes between now and the end of the year. That is quite normal. I introduced the innovation of changing what had gone on for the last 60 or 70 years.

The Minister has repeated about five times that he introduced this innovation in 1997. I am trying to find out why he dropped the innovation this year. I believe he is hiding something, just as the Minister for Health and Children was hiding the problems in the health boards which accidentally got onto the Internet, though they were taken off. I want the Minister to acknowledge that he deliberately left out this column because the Book of Estimates had not been completed. He published a Book of Estimates which was incomplete and, in a certain sense, fake.

The Deputy is slightly mistaken as regards the purpose of the Book of Estimates which relates to Estimates for next year. The Estimates for 2001 are now largely historical, although they were included in the recent Book of Estimates for the purposes of comparison. One could include the Estimates for the last ten years if one wished to identify trends during that time. When publishing a Book of Estimates, there is no obligation to publish Estimates for the present year, as the only requirement is to publish Estimates for the year to come. The Book of Estimates is about necessary expenditure for the coming year.

We must proceed to Question No. 25.

We have clearly returned to the situation that prevailed in 1981 when the Book of Estimates was rigged.

I call Question No. 25.

On a point of order, the Minister ran through the figures very quickly, so to be absolutely clear—

These are Priority Questions, so the Deputy is not entitled to ask a supplementary question.

I appreciate that, but I did not hear the figures and I would like the Minister to repeat them. I do not wish to ask a question.

There is no entitlement.

I am not asking a question.

We do not have time. We are well over time.

Did the Minister mention a figure of 20.633 million?

The net voted outturn of current expenditure is 20,653,734. The figure for capital expenditure is 4,947,276.

The Minister is listing telephone numbers.

We have to move on to Question No. 25.

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