Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 June 2023
226. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the extent to which he continues to ensure adequate and prudent public and current spending policies in the future, with an adequate balance between capital and current spending, while at the same time ensuring a meaningful reserve is maintained to meet emergency calls; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30444/23]
View answerThe Government’s approach to public expenditure policy is set out in the Medium Term Expenditure Strategy (MTES). The objectives of the MTES are twofold, to ensure that the level of core expenditure growth is sustainable long-term and that investment in expenditure protects and delivers improvements to public services. This framework must be responsive to the economic landscape and is reviewed annually as part of the whole of year budget process including the Summer Economic Statement and the Estimates process.
Careful management of our economy and public finances over the past number of years has allowed Government to do the following:
• Firstly, provide increased resources for core public services, investing in quality of life in Ireland to support a strong, fair and equal society into the future,
• Secondly, deliver significant and essential infrastructural projects through our National Development Plan. These projects support this country’s employment prospects, economic development and regional growth,
• Thirdly, we have put in place considerable supports to provide assistance to our people and businesses towards the external challenges we face, including Brexit, war in Ukraine, Cost of Living and Covid pandemic, and
• Finally, we have achieved all this whilst ensuring our public finances are in a sustainable position.
Managing the delivery of public services within budgetary allocations is a key responsibility of each Minister and their Department and important measures are in place to help ensure that these budgetary targets continue to be met. My Department is in regular communication with all Departments and Offices to ensure that expenditure is being managed within the overall fiscal parameters. The drawdown of funds from the Exchequer is monitored against the published expenditure profiles. There is regular reporting to Government on these matters and information in relation to voted expenditure is published monthly with the Exchequer Returns.
A number of budgetary processes are also in place to broaden the approach to how public expenditure is appraised, implemented and reviewed. They govern not only how and where the money is spent but also the impact of public expenditure across different cohorts of society and the different categories of expenditure. They work in tandem with broader initiatives, such as the establishment of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service (IGEES), to develop capacity and enhance the role of economics and value for money analysis in public policy making.
Additionally, my Department engages regularly in international fora, including the OECD working parties and committees, to discuss and share insights. These discussions focus on spending reviews, budgetary reform and other areas that strengthen public sector institutions’ ability to promote systemic change as way to respond to economic, social and environmental challenges.
In respect of enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of policy delivery, improving and supporting the evaluation capacity within Government Departments has formed an important part of the reform programme. Supported by the establishment of IGEES, this has led to the development of a number of additional processes and reports to support the budgetary framework. This includes the spending review process, managed by my Department, which seeks to assess the effectiveness of public expenditure in meeting policy objectives and fostering engagement. Over 160 papers published since introduction in 2017.
In relation to the 'reserve' or contingency fund, significant additional funding has been provided to respond to a number of externally driven challenges. These include our response to Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and the war in Ukraine. The Government allocates funding in the form of 'non core' expenditure. This is spending that relates to temporary external challenges requiring additional resources, outside the day-to-day expenditure of Departments. For 2023 an amount of €5.2 billion was allocated. This funding is reviewed on an ongoing basis.
