Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2013
306. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the savings in his Department's 2013 Revised Estimates of Expenditure which incorporate the savings which were part of the Labour Relations Commission draft proposals on the Croke Park 2 Agreements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18991/13]
View answer307. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the payroll savings that were provided for in his Department under the Revised Estimates for Public Service as compared to the draft estimates published in December 2012 arising from the terms of the Labour Relations Commission Proposals Croke Park 2; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19047/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 306 and 307 together.
The Revised Estimates Volume (REV) is published each year a few months after the Budget. The REV gives a fuller, more detailed breakdown of spending by each Department and Vote than the spending information announced in the Estimates which are published with the Budget each year. The REV also gives the provisional outturn for spending in the preceding year and includes performance budgeting information for each area of Government spending.
The REV 2013, published last week on Wednesday, 17 April, elaborates on the 2013 spending information published in the Expenditure Report 2013 at Budget time last December. Individual Vote Estimates were also presented to the Dáil and referred to the relevant Dáil Select Committees for discussion. The Revised Estimates set out detailed financial and output information for all Departments and it is important that select committees have the opportunity to examine this information and in particular the performance budgeting information and programme outputs.
In keeping with the largely technical nature of the REV, the majority of adjustments arise from the allocation of savings around pay, pensions, conditions of service and reductions in public service numbers. The estimates in Budget 2013 included some of these savings in individual Votes and also an undistributed amount that was yet to be allocated. These savings have now been fully apportioned across individual Votes on the basis of the Labour Relations Commission recommendations. A small element of the 2013 savings is non-Exchequer, non-voted or non-pay, so these savings will not be seen in the voted Exchequer pay total shown in the REV 2013.
The overall savings arising as a result of the Labour Relations Commission recommendations would have achieved the required savings for 2013 and the full target by the end of the deal period. I made a decision to publish the Estimates, which are based on the implementation of the Labour Relations Commission recommendations, because that is what we hoped the position would be. The recommendations were the most appropriate means of achieving the savings required. The Government will continue to reflect on last week's outcome of the ballot. In the meantime, we have agreed to request the CEO of the Labour Relations Committee to make contact with the parties in the coming days to establish whether or not there is a basis for a negotiated agreement to meet the budgetary targets. He will report back in time to allow for further discussion and decision by Government on the next steps. Following that, any changes required will be reflected in the Estimates as appropriate and presented to the Oireachtas as soon as possible thereafter.
