Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 26 July 2017
143. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Finance the details of non-voted expenditure in 2016 and to date in 2017; his plans to introduce additional transparency into the deployment of non-voted expenditure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36013/17]
View answerTotal non-voted expenditure in 2016 was €12,090 million, comprising €9,581 million and €2,508 million of current and capital expenditure respectively. The monthly Exchequer statement provides a further breakdown of current and capital non-voted expenditure under a number of different headings. The main items under non-voted current and capital expenditure for 2016 are set out in the following tables.
Main items under 2016 non-voted current expenditure
|
- |
End December 2016 (€m) |
% share of Current non-voted Expenditure |
|
Debt Servicing |
€6,845 |
71.4 % |
|
Contribution to EU Budget |
€2,023 |
21.2 % |
|
Transfer of LPT receipts to Local Government Fund |
€463 |
4.8% |
|
Oireachtas Commission |
€114 |
1.2% |
Main items under 2016 non-voted capital expenditure
|
- |
End December 2016 (€m) |
% share of Capital non-voted Expenditure |
|
Loans to Social Insurance Fund |
€1,370 |
54.6 % |
|
Feoga (Guarantee) Agriculture |
€770 |
30.7 % |
|
Capital Contribution to Irish Water |
€184 |
7.3% |
|
Advances to the Supply Account |
€181 |
7.2% |
Turning to 2017, the Fiscal Monitor, published monthly on my Department’s website, indicates that non-voted expenditure amounts to €5,256 million in the year-to-date, all of which, except €5.7 million, was accounted for by non-voted current expenditure.
In relation to enhancing transparency around non-voted expenditure developments the Exchequer Statement, on pages 13 and 14 within the Fiscal Monitor, provide a further breakdown of non-voted expenditure under a number of different headings. This is augmented by the Analytical Exchequer statement on pages 15 and 16 of the Fiscal Monitor which shows the main items under both current and capital non-voted expenditure, the nominal and percentage variance from the Budget consistent profile and year-on-year changes. This profile is published during the first quarter of each year and includes details of the main non-voted expenditure items on a monthly basis. It is worth noting that my Department has also published the cumulative monthly profiles for all main Exchequer items for the last three years to further improve overall fiscal transparency.
In addition, in response to a recommendation contained in the IMF fiscal transparency report, the Analytical Exchequer Statement, as part of the Fiscal Monitor, further separates non-voted expenditure into those transactions that have an impact in general government terms from those with none.
