Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2004
340 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if his Department has achieved the target, set out in the initiation of the expenditure review initiative in 1997, that all Government expenditure be subject to a formal review under that initiative every three years; and if not, the areas of expenditure in respect of which the three yearly review has not taken place. [17578/04]
View answer341 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the areas of expenditure of his Department in respect of which an expenditure review under the expenditure review initiative has not yet been completed and published. [17593/04]
View answerI propose to take questions Nos. 340 and 341 together.
The initial target of the expenditure review initiative, ERI, was to review all expenditure programmes over a three year period. However, a review of the process by the Department of Finance expenditure review central steering committee, ERCSC, in 2000-01 found that this target had been over-ambitious and that a more focused approach to the selection of review topics was required. This view was supported by a Comptroller and Auditor General value for money study of the ERI in 2001 which proposed that a more realistic target should be set that took into account the level of evaluative capacity in departments generally.
In June 2001 the Government decided, inter alia, that the Department of Finance and individual Departments-offices should compile and agree a work plan of review topics based on specific selection criteria, that is, that programmes selected for review should reflect Government priorities or strategic result areas, involve significant levels of expenditure, etc. Subsequently, in May 2002, the Government approved a schedule of expenditure review topics proposed for the first year of the next three-year planning horizon — 2002-04 — and noted the topics proposed for 2003 and 2004. In April 2003, the ERCSC asked Departments-offices to update their expenditure review plans, again in consultation with the Department of Finance. The committee emphasised the Government’s selection criteria and advised that Departments-offices should select a small number of programmes-areas involving major policy issues or significant levels of expenditure. On foot of this process, revised expenditure review plans were drawn up by Departments-offices.
My Department's updated expenditure review plan for 2003 and 2004 includes five reviews as follows: the sports capital programme expenditure review is currently being finalised; the swimming pools programme expenditure review is proceeding; the sports tourism initiative expenditure review has been deferred pending consideration by the Department of the outcome of the review of the initiative currently being conducted by Fáilte Ireland; and expenditure reviews of the Irish Sports Council and the Irish Film Board are due to be undertaken in 2004.
