Update: Budgetary Overruns – Public Expenditure 9th October, 2014

QUESTION NO:   10
DÁIL QUESTION addressed to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Deputy Brendan Howlin)
by Deputy Bernard J. Durkan
for ORAL ANSWER on 09/10/2014  

 To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the Departments most seriously threatened by budgetary overruns in the course of the past three and a half years; if these Departments will operate within their respective budgets in the coming year; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
 
REPLY.

Gross voted expenditure has been reduced from its peak of €63.1 billion in 2009 to €54.5 billion in 2013.   This represents a reduction of approximately 13 ½ per cent between 2009 and 2013.   The gross voted expenditure allocation for 2014 is €53 billion.

Managing the delivery of public services within its Budgetary allocation is a key responsibility of each Minister and Department, and several measures are in place to help ensure that these budgetary targets continue to be met.   My Department is in regular communication with all Departments and Offices to ensure that expenditure is being managed effectively. We monitor their drawdown of funds from the Exchequer against the published expenditure profiles with information published monthly as part of the Exchequer Statement.

In recent years, there have been a number of cases in which Government Departments have required supplementary estimates. Much of the expenditure overruns, that resulted in these supplementary estimates, were due to the exposure of certain areas to the economic cycle and expenditure pressures arising across a number of Government Departments due to increased demands for services.   For example, in periods where the numbers on the Live Register were increasing, this had the effect of both increasing expenditure on Jobseeker’s payments, while also increasing the numbers of citizens eligible for a Medical Card.

In the coming year, as the Government looks to bring the deficit below 3 per cent of GDP in 2015, there is an ongoing requirement to ensure that Departmental expenditure is managed to meet this key fiscal policy objective. As such, the prioritisation of resources and effective management of expenditure within allocations will continue to be a key responsibility of all Ministers and their Departments.