Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 July 2023
580. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage the amount of his Department’s 2022 budget that was surrendered to the Exchequer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36031/23]
View answerAs set out in Question No. 328 of 25 April, my Department's Appropriation Accounts published by the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) set out the full details of expenditure for the relevant years and can be found at the following link: www.audit.gov.ie/en/publications/appropriation%20accounts/. The 2022 Appropriation Account has been presented to the C&AG and will be published later this year following audit.
Summary details of the allocations and amount surrendered to the Exchequer in 2022 is set out below:
|
Vote 34 - DHLGH |
REV Allocation |
Amount Surrendered to Exchequer |
% of Total Allocation |
|
|
|
||
|
2022 |
€6,148m |
€246.7m |
4% |
Under Section 91 of the Finance Act, 2004, all or part of any unspent appropriations for capital supply services may be carried over for spending in the following year. This provides for the carryover of up to 10% of the REV allocation (Capital) from one year to the next.
In 2022, the continued impact of Covid-19 on the construction sector, compounded by supply chain issues and the onset of war in Ukraine with resulting further detrimental impact for the sector, had a substantial effect on drawdown of capital investment for key programme areas. Capital expenditure in 2022 was lower than profiled resulting in surplus balances on the capital elements of Programmes A (Housing), B (Water), D (Planning) and F (Heritage), of which €340m capital has been carried forward to 2023.
Despite these challenges, my Department continued to engage proactively on a range of measures to manage, mitigate and expedite where possible. In the case of significant capital projects, it is important to note that the aforementioned impacts push a project out rather than cancelling it and therefore Capital Carryover ensures that where delivery arises beyond the calendar year in which initially anticipated, the capital can transfer to meet the commitment up to a maximum of 10%.
It should also be noted that the lead-in time for capital programmes does not, by its nature, readily facilitate in-year substitution for alternative capital delivery.
