Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 June 2023
390. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage if he will provide a breakdown of his Department's underspend for Q1 of 2023, including the capital carry over from 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29699/23]
View answerThe Total Gross Provision for Vote 34 - Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for 2023 as set out in the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2023 published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) and available at www.per.gov.ie/en/rev/ is €6,322m. This is made up of €2,797m Current and €3,525m Capital and will also be supplemented by €340m Capital Carryover from 2022.
The allocation to the Vote Group also includes the provision to Votes 16, Tailte Éireann, and 23, the Electoral Commission. Inclusive of these votes, the Gross Provision to the Vote Group amounts to €6,414m excluding capital carryover.
In addition to the Voted Provision for 2023, as set out Revised Estimates for Public Services 2023, my Department's housing programmes will also benefit this year from non-exchequer funding of some €167.7m that is being made available from the proceeds of Local Property Tax (LPT).
As set out in the March 2023 Fiscal Monitor, net current expenditure in the Vote Group for Q1 2023 amounted to €436m, which was €106m behind published profile of €541m. This variance is mostly due to subhead C.3 Local Government Fund experiencing a slight delay in drawdown which was rectified the following month to bring the subhead back in line with profile.
Net capital expenditure in the Vote Group for Q1 2023 was €232m against a profiled spend of €325m, a variance of €94m or nearly 29% behind profile. However, this figure does not take account of Capital carryover expenditure which was impacted by the early signing of the Deferred Surrender Order and subsequent use of some of these funds in March 2023 despite the drawdown of Capital carryover being profiled from April onwards only. Accordingly, taking account of the REV provision plus capital carryover, the variance of combined capital expenditure below profile for the Vote Group was €83m to end Q1 2023.
This variance of expenditure against profile at the end of March arises mainly from lower than anticipated expenditure across a small number of specific expenditure lines in the Housing Programme as a result of a combination of factors including: continued challenges in relation to price inflation, supply chain disruption, certain developments initially projected for completion being delayed until later this year and an element of expenditure being offset by Local Authorities against their Local Property Tax (LPT) receipts and the expenditure of capital carryover following the earlier than anticipated signing of the Deferred Surrender Order.
My Department will continue to engage proactively on a range of measures to manage and expedite expenditure where possible throughout the remainder of this year with a view to keeping within projected investment levels.
