I move the following Revised Estimates:
Vote 1 — President’s Establishment (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €3,062,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Secretary to the President, for certain other expenses of the President’s Establishment and for certain grants.
Vote 2 — Department of the Taoiseach (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €22,148,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Department of the Taoiseach, including certain services administered by the Department and for payment of grants and grants-in-aid.
Vote 3 — Office of the Attorney General (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €14,317,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Attorney General, including a grant-in-aid.
Vote 4 — Central Statistics Office (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €39,758,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Central Statistics Office.
Vote 5 — Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €37,414,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Vote 6 — Office of the Chief State Solicitor (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €29,916,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Chief State Solicitor.
Vote 7 — Office of the Minister for Finance (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €33,187,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Finance, including the Paymaster-General’s Office, for certain services administered by the Office of the Minister and for payment of certain grants and grants-in-aid.
Vote 8 — Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €5,977,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Vote 9 — Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €322,705,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, including certain other services administered by that Office.
Vote 10 — Office of the Appeal Commissioners (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €442,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Appeal Commissioners.
Vote 20 — Garda Síochána (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €1,272,077,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Garda Síochána, including pensions, etc.; for the payment of certain witnesses’ expenses, and for payment of a grant-in-aid.
Vote 21 — Prisons (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €311,391,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Prison Service, and other expenses in connection with prisons, including places of detention; for probation services; and for payment of a grant-in-aid.
Vote 22 — Courts Service (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €58,324,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for such of the salaries and expenses of the Courts Service and of the Supreme Court, the High Court, the Special Criminal Court, the Circuit Court and the District Court and of certain other minor services as are not charged to the Central Fund.
Vote 23 — Property Registration Authority (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €31,232,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Property Registration Authority.
Vote 24 — Justice and Equality (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €320,072,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Probation Service staff and of certain other services including payments under cash-limited schemes administered by that Office, and payment of certain grants and grants-in-aid, and that a sum not exceeding €287,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.
Vote 25 — Environment, Community and Local Government (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €1,130,116,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, including grants to Local Authorities, grants and other expenses in connection with housing, water services, miscellaneous schemes, subsidies and grants, and for the payment of certain grants under cash-limited schemes, and that a sum not exceeding €43,000,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.
Vote 26 — Education and Skills (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €7,926,906,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Education and Skills, for certain services administered by that Office, and for the payments of certain grants and grants-in-aid, and that a sum not exceeding €19,000,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.
Vote 27 — International Co-operation (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €495,929,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for certain Official Development Assistance, including certain grants-in-aid, and for contributions to certain International Organisations involved in Development Assistance and for salaries and expenses in connection therewith.
Vote 28 — Foreign Affairs and Trade (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €173,843,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and for certain services administered by that Office, including grants-in-aid and contributions to International Organisations, and that a sum not exceeding €400,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.
Vote 29 — Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €173,395,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, including certain services administered by that Office, and for payment of certain grants and sundry grants-in-aid, and for the payment of certain grants under cash-limited schemes, and that a sum not exceeding €10,400,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.
Vote 30 — Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €995,068,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, including certain services administered by that Office, and of the Irish Land Commission and for payment of certain grants, subsidies and sundry grants-in-aid and for the payment of certain grants under cash-limited schemes, and that a sum not exceeding €6,000,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.
Vote 31 — Transport, Tourism and Sport (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €1,220,582,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, including certain services administered by that Office, for payment of certain grants, grants-in-aid and certain other services.
Vote 32 — Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €760,589,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, including certain services administered by that Office, for the payment of certain subsidies, grants and a grant-in-aid, and for the payment of certain grants under cash-limited schemes, and that a sum not exceeding €25,000,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.
Vote 33 — Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €250,235,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, including certain services administered by that Office, and for payment of certain subsidies, grants and grants-in-aid, and that a sum not exceeding €1,200,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.
Vote 34 — National Gallery (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €7,677,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the National Gallery, including grants-in-aid.
Vote 35 — Army Pensions (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €208,812,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for retired pay, pensions, compensation, allowances and gratuities payable under sundry statutes to or in respect of members of the Defence Forces and certain other Military Organisations, etc., and for sundry contributions and expenses in connection therewith; for certain extra-statutory children’s allowances and other payments and for sundry grants.
Vote 36 — Defence (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €638,757,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Defence, including certain services administered by that Office; for the pay and expenses of the Defence Forces; and for payment of certain grants-in-aid, and that a sum not exceeding €900,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.
Vote 37 — Social Protection (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €13,085,236,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Social Protection, for certain services administered by that Office, for payments to the Social Insurance Fund and for certain grants, and that a sum not exceeding €1,050,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.
Vote 38 — Health (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €243,742,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Health and certain other services administered by that Office, including miscellaneous grants.
Vote 39 — Health Service Executive (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €12,312,471,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Health Service Executive and certain other services administered by the Executive, including miscellaneous grants.
Vote 40 — Children and Youth Affairs (Revised Estimate).
That a sum not exceeding €434,072,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, for certain services administered by that Office and for the payment of grants including certain grants under cash-limited schemes."
I am pleased to have this opportunity to appear before the House to reflect on the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2013, which have been considered by the relevant committees over the last number of weeks. The Revised Book of Estimates sets out gross voted expenditure of €54.6 billion for 2013. The document also sets out an unprecedented level of information about the performance of Departments and offices in their use of last year's funding and the impact that this year's funding will have.
To begin, it might be useful to outline the economic background the Government had to consider in order to formulate the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2013. Following three years of contraction, the Irish economy began to recover in 2011, with strong GDP growth of 2.2% recorded. While growth slowed somewhat in 2012, it remained in positive territory. However, the fragility of the outlook is evident in the recent quarter 1, 2013 national accounts data, which show the economy contracting slightly due to weakness in external demand with domestic demand remaining subdued. More encouragingly, the Irish labour market appears to have stabilised and is now showing tentative signs of recovery. Employment has grown in annual terms for the second successive quarter. In June the unemployment rate was 13.6%, down from 15.1% at the beginning of 2012. It is still at an untenably high level and the Government is determined to continue its stance of helping those who are unemployed by putting job creation at the forefront of all policy measures.
The Government's primary aim in relation to the public finances remains the correction of the excessive general Government deficit by 2015. We have met all our interim deficit targets and this Government remains committed to bringing the deficit below 3% of GDP within the stated time horizon in 2015. The reducing deficit coupled with actions to aid our cash flow means we can look with growing confidence to exiting the EU-IMF programme and returning to a sustainable market-based funding. The actions taken include promissory note restructuring and the extension of maturities for European financial stability facility, or EFSF, and European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, or EFSM, loans. Growing confidence is shared by investors. We have seen the return of Irish Life to the private sector, the recovery of €1 billion of the taxpayers' investment in Bank of Ireland and the yield on Government bonds returning to levels last seen before the economic crisis. Once the excessive deficit is corrected, fiscal policy in Ireland will be framed in line with the requirement to progress towards the medium term budgetary objective of a balanced budget in structural terms and to keep public debt on a downward path.
Since mid-2008, very difficult action has been taken to tackle the imbalances in the public finances. A series of across the board revenue-raising and expenditure-reducing measures have been introduced. These measures have been wide-ranging and have affected all members and sectors of society. Since July 2008, eight separate policy announcements outlining significant budgetary consolidation have been made and budgetary adjustments designed to yield approximately €28 billion, or close to 17% of 2012 GDP, have been implemented on both tax and expenditure. On the spending side, this has led to a slow-down in the growth of day-to-day public, or gross voted current, expenditure. Spending increased by 12.1% in 2007 but is estimated to contract by just under 2% this year.
That gives one the measure of the adjustment we have made. This reduction has been achieved in the face of considerable pressures associated with elevated high numbers on the live register and the downturn in the economic cycle.
Continuing to borrow at present levels is not a long-term solution. An increasing debt burden leads to higher debt servicing costs, thereby adding to the burden on taxpayers. Continuing this would reduce our productive capacity, increase unemployment and reduce the scope for providing public services in the future. This underlines the importance of continuing to take the necessary action to restore stability to the public finances so that the State's resources are not absorbed in paying ever-increasing debt bills.
To this end, all components of the public finances must make an appropriate contribution to achieving this target, and I think it worthwhile in this context to highlight the contribution of the Haddington Road agreement and the related pay reduction measures provided for under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013.
My colleagues and I are very much aware that public servants have already contributed significantly through the pension levy imposed in 2009, the pay reduction imposed in 2010 and with other measures such as head count reduction, reduced salary rates for new entrants and reductions in pension payments to pensioners under the public service pension reduction. Public servants live in the same economy that all workers do, share the same costs, taxes, interest rates that all workers do, and undoubtedly share in the many difficulties that the current crises has caused for individuals and families in the wider economy. Those working in the public service deliver on a daily basis, at all hours of the day and night, vital public services that are of benefit to all of society in an efficient professional way without fear, favour or judgment. We need not look any further for an illustration of the capacity and ability to deliver by our public servants, even in terms of scarce resource reductions, than our recently completed Presidency of the European Union where an excellent Presidency was delivered. This has been widely recognised throughout the European Union.
Notwithstanding the contributions already made, and the excellent work and services provided by our fellow public servants, achieving the general government deficit target of below 3% of GDP by 2015 remains a challenging cornerstone of our economic policy. With pay and pensions accounting for 36% of voted current expenditure, as I have indicated repeatedly in this House, it is clear that a proportionate contribution of €1 billion in savings is needed from the public service pay and pensions bill by 2015.
Of this €1 billion in savings, the pay reduction to those earning over €65,000, which is 13% of the public service workforce, will deliver approximately €210 million. Other central measures, including pension reductions and increment pauses, will deliver some €130 million, bringing the total amount of savings from these central measures to over €340 million.
The agreement will also deliver an unprecedented increase in productivity across the public service, through the provision of almost 15 million additional working hours and a range of other efficiency and reform measures. These additional hours will reduce the requirement for paid overtime hours and agency costs by an estimated €130 million; will allow management to maintain services against the backdrop of decreasing staff numbers, facilitate reductions in staff numbers and the associated annual pay bill cost over the course of the agreement, with a target of savings of some €175 million; and will facilitate the reduction in the costs of supervision and substitution in schools, for the duration of the agreement, which will yield savings of some €125 million.
In addition to these core changes, there have been numerous specific measures agreed at the sectoral level. These measures will help to deliver the greatest return for each sector, both in terms of cost savings and efficiency gains and ensuring that each sector is making a fair contribution to the overall savings target. In total, these sector-specific measures will yield savings of over €230 million.
As a Government, and as a State, there was little choice other than to pursue and secure the proposals that form the Haddington Road agreement. In simple terms, it would not be tenable to shield the public service pay and pensions bill at the cost of necessitating further reductions in expenditure and services provided to meet the needs of the general population.
The Haddington Road agreement protects the core pay of lower and middle income workers in the public service who make up 87% of all public service workers. In this regard, the agreement's provisions reflect many of the concerns expressed by the staff representatives during the negotiations. It seeks to achieve a broad balance of equity across public servants and sectors, notwithstanding the complexity and the diversity of the public service. The measures provide that those at the highest levels of pay contribute the most.
We would all like the agenda to have been otherwise but irrespective of the agenda, I strongly believe that there is an obligation on all employers to sit down openly and honestly with their staff to identify solutions that can address shared problems and generate a collective agreement on a collaborative basis which can enable both employer and employees share in a sustainable future. The Haddington Road agreement is supportive of the worker as a stakeholder in the enterprise that employs him or her in the public service. It provides a framework for the conclusion of fair and balanced collective agreements across all sectors of the public service so that the necessary savings from the pay and pensions bill can be secured on an agreed basis. I welcome the fact that the vast majority of unions and associations representing public servants have now registered collective agreements with the LRC accepting the terms of the Haddington Road agreement and that others are considering their approach in the context of their own internal procedures and processes. This development is a vital contribution to the final leg of our fiscal consolidation efforts and can ensure that our public services are delivered and availed of by all citizens in a climate of continued industrial peace.
The Government's policies are working. We continue to make progress stabilising the public finances and we are creating the necessary conditions to ensure strong and sustainable employment growth. This is borne out by the recently published unemployment rates, which, as I stated earlier, have been reduced to 13.6%. Through our labour market activation and training policies, we have supported employment creation and, encouragingly, the numbers in employment continues to increase.
This improvement to the public finances has required a wide range of difficult decisions to be made by the Government in order to cut spending and raise revenue. These are decisions which will benefit each and every citizen of this country in the longer term.
However, significant challenges remain for Ireland. The large gap that still exists between Government spending and revenue must be closed. Continuing to run large deficits and engaging in a high level of borrowing required to fund such deficits, is simply not viable. To do so would result in unsustainable debt - we will reach a debt level of 123% of GDP this year - and a long-term loss of sovereignty. As a Government, our objective is to recover the economy, regain the sovereignty and ensure that there is a sustainable future for the people.
