Managing expenditure within the voted allocations included in the annual Revised Estimates is a key responsibility of every Department and Minister. Monitoring of spending against profile and of progress on programmes and projects by each accounting officer is well established within each Department. The Fiscal Monitor is published each month by the Department of Finance setting out expenditure trends. My Department is in regular contact with all Departments regarding actual and projected spending, including areas where there may be cost overruns and offsetting savings that might be available for reallocation.Where any savings identified are not sufficient to cover the cost of additional demands within a Vote, a Supplementary Estimate may be required to provide the additional funds.
In any year, in-year developments may arise which require additional funding through supplementary estimates. In 2023 31 Supplementary Estimates were required, 8 of which were technical in nature (allowing use of additional Appropriations in Aid to fund spending or redistribute savings within a vote). These Estimates represent an additional €6 billion expenditure in gross terms or €5.5 billion in net.
The high level of supplementary estimates required arises due to in-year developments, the majority of which relate to external challenges for which non-core expenditure has been allocated. €4 billion of these estimates relate to non-core expenditure including Ukraine supports (€1.3 billion), Covid (€0.04 billion), BAR (€0.2 billion) and Cost of Living (€2.1 billion) measures. The remaining €2 billion relates to core expenditure pressures with additional demand in certain sectors.
This additional funding demonstrates the responsive actions taken by Government throughout 2023 to provide additional Cost of Living measures in the face of continued elevated inflation levels. This funding also recognises the additional demand facing public services particularly in the health and education which continue to operate in a post-pandemic environment of increased demand and complexity.
