Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 October 2004
177 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the purpose and terms of the review of the income maintenance payments provided by his Department as part of the Government’s expenditure review initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23314/04]
View answerThe expenditure review initiative was launched in 1997 and forms part of the strategic management initiative.
The objectives of the initiative are to analyse in a systematic manner what is actually being achieved by expenditure on each programme and to provide a basis on which more informed decisions can be made on priorities within and between expenditure programmes.
My Department has engaged with the process since its launch in 1997. An expenditure review steering group is in place in the Department to provide support and direction, while the process overall is overseen by the expenditure review central steering committee, chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Finance.
Expenditure reviews are carried out by working groups comprising staff from the relevant areas within the Department, with representation from the Department of Finance and other Departments and agencies, as appropriate. All of the reviews involve consultations with interested organisations and lobby groups and surveys of customers are carried out as required.
The guidelines issued by the central steering committee require that the terms of reference of a review should: identify programme objectives; examine the current validity of those objectives and their compatibility with the overall strategy of the Department; define the outputs associated with the programme activity and identify the level and trend of those outputs; examine the extent to which the programme's objectives have been achieved and comment on the effectiveness with which they have been achieved; identify the level and trend of costs and staffing resources associated with an expenditure programme and thus comment on the efficiency with which it has achieved its objectives; evaluate the degree to which the objectives warrant the allocation of public funding on a current and ongoing basis and examine the scope for alternative policy or organisational approaches to achieving these objectives on a more efficient and-or effective basis; and specify potential future performance indicators that might be used to monitor better the performance of a programme.
All reviews commenced since 2003 are subject to external review. The Department has published 17 completed reviews. These reviews have contributed positively to policy evaluation within the Department and form a component of the budgetary process. They have also led to improvement in the administrative efficiencies of the schemes reviewed.
