Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 June 2023
199. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform to provide a full breakdown of the NDP projects and costs included in'budgetary decisions for 2023 in the summer economic statement 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31795/23]
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 (SES) and the Estimates process.
The 2022 Summer Economic Statement set out the budgetary strategy for the period to 2025. As part of the total budget package set out for each year to 2025, amounts of between €3-3.4 billion were indicated for ‘budgetary decisions’ in Table 1 of the document. For 2023, this figure under ‘budgetary decisions’ was €3 billion. This category comprises provision for Existing Levels of Service (ELS) costs and the planned core capital expenditure increases under the National Development Plan (NDP).
The NDP published in October 2021 provides a detailed and positive vision for Ireland over the next 10 years, and sees total public investment of €165 billion over the period 2021-2030. Core capital increases have been in line with the parameters set out in the NDP, with an additional €0.8 billion in 2023.
The NDP includes indicative Exchequer allocations for each Department for a five year period (2021 to 2025) and the overall capital expenditure ceilings out to 2030. This expenditure was considered and agreed in order to support those sectors that would be key in delivering the ten National Strategic Outcomes (NSOs) identified in the National Planning Framework (NPF). The NDP contains expenditure commitments for a range of strategic investment priorities which have been determined by the relevant Departments as central to the delivery of the National Planning Framework vision.
In 2023, over €12 billion will be made available from the Exchequer for investment in public capital projects, which will provide more schools, homes, hospitals and other pieces of vital infrastructure. This level of expenditure will be pivotal in consolidating the progress already made, supporting balanced regional development and, most importantly, delivering the necessary infrastructure to support our future climate change obligations as well as our social and economic requirements.
Under the approach set out in the 2021 Summer Economic Statement, 3% of the core current expenditure base is being set aside each year to meet ELS costs. These include costs arising from demographic pressures, population growth, carryover costs from measures already introduced in prior year Budgets, and public service pay commitments under existing pay deals. €2.2 billion was provided for in last year's SES to meet these these costs in Budget 2023.
The division of the available resources under this 3% provision between the areas covered by ELS are examined and allocated as part of the Estimates process each year, with the breakdown published in the Expenditure Report. 2023 allocations by Ministerial Vote Group of additional capital, ELS and new measures funding can be found in the Budget 2023 Expenditure Report. Detailed information on the allocation of voted expenditure is published each December in the Revised Estimates for Public Services which sets out the funding allocated to each Vote by programme and subhead.
The Summer Economic Statement (SES) will be published in the coming weeks. It sets out the fiscal and expenditure strategy for the year ahead within which discussions will take place in advance of Budget 2024. Each year the SES sets out our plans for sustainable expenditure growth to provide for the delivery of investment in public services and infrastructure to support a strong, fair and equal society into the future.
