Dinny McGinley
Ceist:75 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether the public is getting value for the increase in public spending in the past two years. [25615/02]
Vol. 559 No. 1
75 Mr. McGinley asked the Minister for Finance his views on whether the public is getting value for the increase in public spending in the past two years. [25615/02]
129 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Finance if he plans to establish a permanent commission to promote better value for money from public spending. [25586/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 75 and 129 together.
The increases in public spending over the past two years have led to considerable improvements in public services, particularly in the key priority areas of health, education, social welfare and infrastructure.
There are already a variety of measures in place to assess value for money, including reviews conducted by individual Departments under the expenditure review initiative, value-for-money audits undertaken by the Comptroller and Auditor General and national development plan evaluations. The relevant committees of this House also have the opportunity to examine issues relating to value for money in their scrutiny of Departmental estimates.
I have no plans to establish a permanent commission to promote better value for money. However, I believe there is scope for securing better value for money through more effective control and management of public expenditure.