Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 June 2004
122 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach 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. [17570/04]
View answer123 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Taoiseach 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. [17585/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 122 and 123 together.
While the initial objective of the expenditure review process was to review all programmes over a three-year period under the initial expenditure review programme, 1997 to 2000, it was agreed that three reviews would be undertaken by my Department. Two of these reviews on the Information Society Commission and the National Centre for Partnership were undertaken. However, a decision was taken, with the agreement of the Department of Finance, not to proceed with the third proposed review which was in respect of the National Economic and Social Council, NESC, and the National Economic and Social Forum, NESF, as this review was overtaken by the Government decision to establish the National Economic and Social Development Office.
In a review of the process undertaken at the end of the first three-year expenditure review programme, 1997 to 2000, and in light of the findings of a value for money study on the expenditure review initiative undertaken by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, it was accepted that the target of covering all programme areas in a three-year period was overly ambitious and a more focused approach to the selection of reviews was agreed by the Government.
A new work programme for the period 2001 to 2004 was agreed between this Department and the Department of Finance based on the following new criteria for the selection of reviews: programmes reflecting Government priorities or strategic review areas; programmes involving significant levels of expenditure; programmes where expenditure has been growing unusually quickly; programmes where the external environment has changed substantially since the programme was introduced; and programmes whose objectives are proving particularly difficult to achieve.
Following a review of the Department's programmes for 2002 and subsequent years, it was agreed with the Department of Finance that, due to the relatively small size of the Department's Vote and the nature and size of individual programme allocations, the objectives of the expenditure review initiative would not in general be best served by selecting individual programmes for review.
It was suggested that the Department's role in several cross-departmental issues which clearly fit the selection criteria would be an area in which my Department could have a more useful input. The resulting work programme for my Department included one review of the National Economic and Social Development Office. This review is due to be undertaken following enactment of the NESDO legislation which is going through the Houses of the Oireachtas.
It is my understanding that a limited number of cross-departmental reviews were selected to be undertaken on a pilot basis as part of the 2001-04 expenditure review initiative, in view of the complexity of these reviews and the need to formulate an effective approach to them. My Department did not have any close involvement in the areas to which these reviews related but would expect to be involved in similar reviews in the future.
