Vol. 548 No. 5
71 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the concerns expressed by the Comptroller and Auditor General that nearly two thirds of all Government expenditure has not been reviewed in the past three years, despite the establishment in 1997 of the expenditure review initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5556/02]
I welcomed the publication of the Comptroller and Auditor General's value for money report on the expenditure review initiative on 30 January. At that time I reiterated that the original intention of the initiative was to foster and develop, within departments, a critical perspective on their activities and programmes and to increase the quality of public debate on public spending. I was pleased to note the Comptroller and Auditor General's statement that the reviews completed so far represent a reasonable effort from a standing start.
As of December 2000, 37% of government spending was either the subject of completed reviews or in the process of being reviewed. These reviews do not represent the totality of review and evaluation work in the Civil Service from 1997 to 2000, inclusive. Reviews and appraisals of expenditure were also carried out as part of the preparatory stages of the drafting of the National Development Plan 2000-2006. In addition, departmental evaluation units conducted individual studies in this period of various programmes in the previous National Plan 1994-1999. Value for money studies undertaken by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General also made a valuable contribution to the analysis and review of various programmes, projects and expenditure areas.
In the light of experience with the expenditure review initiative in the period 1997 to 2000, inclusive, the Comptroller and Auditor General concludes that the initial target of reviewing 100% of all Government spending over three years was probably not feasible. The report goes on to propose that a more realistic target be set and suggests a shift towards a more focused approach to the selection of projects.
Learning from the experience so far, I am now asking Departments-offices to focus on significant areas of spending in the 2002-2004 programme. The Government agreed specific criteria to assist them in the selection of suitable topics for review in June 2001. My Department has also put in place a number of other initiatives, such as a new training programme for reviewers and a network for disseminating best practice. At present Departments are formulating their three year expenditure review plans and selecting topics for 2002. They are also being encouraged to publish final review reports conducted under their aegis.
