Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 January 2018
27. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the rolling selective spending review process which will take place in his Department in each of the years 2017 to 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2337/18]
View answerAs part of my Estimates speech on Budget day in 2016, I announced that a spending review would take place on a three-year rolling basis.
The first cycle of the Spending Review in 2017, which culminated in the publication of over 20 analytical papers on spending review topics, was successfully completed in October last year following the publication of Budget 2018. The analytical papers are all available on my Department's website. This was the first cycle of a series of selective reviews of the current expenditure base that will remain in place for a 3-year period. The spending review will operate as a separate but parallel process to the Budget and will therefore inform the preparation of the next two Budgets.
In advance of Budget 2019, the Spending Review in 2018 will examine the next phase of expenditure topics. It is planned that the remaining phase of the Spending Review will be covered the following year. The primary objective of the Spending Review in 2018 is to build on the work completed in 2017 and continue to reinforce the use of data, evidence and analysis to support decision-making in the Estimates process.
As the Deputy will be aware, there are a number of significant risks - both internal and external - to the sustainability of our current growth and fiscal performance. These require that Government secure the continuation of sound public finances to underpin sustainable economic growth. The experience from recent years is that this is best achieved by allocating scarce resources in the most efficient and effective way. The Spending Review is a key tool that can enable the achievement of this goal.
The second annual cycle of spending reviews is currently underway involving the identification of topics on which analytical papers will be prepared.
