John Bruton
Question:18 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the reason the 1999 forecast outturn of expenditure for his Department is nearly 17 per cent below the Estimate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24348/99]
Written Answers. - Estimates for the Public Service.
John Bruton
Question:19 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the reason the 2000 Estimate of expenditure by his Department is 36 per cent above the forecast outturn for 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24349/99]
John Bruton
Question:20 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the reason the 1999 forecast outturn of capital expenditure for his Department is 63 per cent below the Estimate; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24350/99]
John Bruton
Question:21 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach the reason the 2000 Estimate of capital expenditure for his Department is 140 per cent above the forecast outturn for 1999; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24351/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 to 21, inclusive, together.
The total Estimate for my Department for 2000 is £36.391 million. This represents an increase of £4.158 million on the 1999 Estimate.
The main reason for this is an increase of £3.35 million – to £8 million – in the allocation for the Moriarty tribunal. The bulk of the legal costs from the tribunal are expected to arise during 2000, once the tribunal has completed its work. As a consequence, the full allocation for the tribunal in the 1999 Estimates is unlikely to be spent.
The other major item reflected in the Estimate for my Department is the funding of the Millennium celebrations, for which the Government has allocated an overall budget of £30 million over a two-year period. To date, the Government has approved expenditure on projects totalling £22.5 million, following recommendations by the National Millennium Committee. Expenditure during 1999 has been lower than estimated, mainly because there is a significant capital element involved. There is a longer lead time on capital projects and the Millennium Office is determined that grants will not be made until satisfactory progress has been made on such projects. It is, therefore, likely that the bulk of the capital expenditure will now arise during 2000.
The main reasons that the forecast outturn of expenditure for 1999 is below the estimate is the lower than expected level of payments of Millennium capital grants, and savings on 1999 cost of the Moriarty tribunal; the main reasons for the difference between the 1999 projected outturn and the 2000 Estimate are the higher levels of expenditure projected for 2000 on Millennium capital projects and on the Moriarty tribunal; the lower than expected outturn on capital expenditure in 1999 relates to the timing of Millennium capital expenditure, as I have outlined, and the projected increase in capital expenditure for 2000 arises for the same reason.