Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
49. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the extent to which he continues to identify best practice in respect of public expenditure and reform, having regard to prevailing economic trends; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30953/23]
View answerThe Government’s approach to public expenditure policy seeks to ensure that the level of core expenditure growth is sustainable and that investment in expenditure delivers improvements to public services and infrastructure.
Careful management of our economy and public finances over the past number of years has allowed Government to:
• 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,
• deliver significant and essential infrastructural projects through our National Development Plan. These projects support this country’s employment prospects, economic development and regional growth,
• put in place considerable supports through non-core expenditure to respond to Brexit, war in Ukraine, cost of living pressures and Covid.
In Budget 2023, we responded to elevated inflation levels by implementing a two-pronged approach. This included increasing core expenditure to help support public services and utilising non-core expenditure to provide a range of temporary measures to help households and businesses with acute cost of living pressures, in particular elevated energy costs.
In terms of the approach to ongoing management of public expenditure, a number of budgetary processes are also in place, in line with best practice, to broaden the approach to appraising, implementing and reviewing policies.
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 our ability 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 in delivering positive impacts for our people.
