Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 12 February 2015
95. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide details of all funds and accounts, from which payments will be made, that are not included in the expenditure ceilings published in the Comprehensive Expenditure Report 2015-2017; if he will provide the annual receipts and payments from these funds; if he will provide a breakdown of these amounts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6463/15]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Comprehensive Expenditure Report 2015-2017 (CER) relates to all spending by Central Government which is voted upon annually by the Dáil, plus the expenditure of the Social Insurance Fund and the National Training Fund. This corresponds to the Ministerial Expenditure Ceilings as defined in the Ministers and Secretaries Amendment Act 2013. In 2015, this amounts to over €53 billion.
Non-voted expenditure of the Central Fund is not covered by the Ministerial Expenditure Ceilings. The Department of Finance publishes detailed annual accounts of the Central Fund each year, known as the Finance Accounts. These Accounts are prepared under Section 4 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993 and contain detailed analysis and classification of receipts and issues of the Central Fund as well as details of the National Debt. They must be laid before Dáil Éireann and they are examined by the PAC. In addition, the Department of Finance publishes information in relation to Central Fund activity on a monthly basis in the Exchequer Statements.
Detailed information in relation to other funds and accounts, as sought by the Deputy, are published by the respective responsible Departments, Offices, and State Bodies and not by my Department. However, the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services, published annually by my Department, includes summary information on the income and expenditures of the Social Insurance Fund, National Training Funds and the Local Government Fund, all of which are extra-budgetary funds. Summary information is also included for a range of non-commercial state agencies.
