The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath TD, today (Wednesday) published the Revised Estimates for Public Services 2022 (REV).
The REV was presented to the Dáil today and has been referred by the Dáil to the Select Committees for consideration.
The REV provides a more detailed breakdown of the allocations contained in the Expenditure Report 2022 published on Budget Day.
The REV represents a significant milestone in the annual Budgetary calendar and includes adjustments to planned Departmental expenditure compared to the Budget Estimates. In aggregate, these adjustments come to €207 million and are funded within the overall expenditure amount of €87.6 billion set out on Budget day. These adjustments are achieved through the reallocation of funds set aside in reserves in the Expenditure Report. These adjustments include the allocation of:
- €96 million of the €4 billion Covid Contingency Reserve to individual Departments for specific Covid measures;
- €25 million from the Shared Island Fund (LINK) allocated to Departments for specific Shared Island projects;
- €54 million to Departments from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve with further allocations to be made next year as Brexit unfolds; and
- €32 million from core current funding unallocated at Budget time.
As in previous years, the REV also includes performance information, which provides details on the public service outputs and outcomes that are being delivered with public funds and include indicators relating to equality objectives. The inclusion of these equality indicators seeks to integrate equality concerns into the budgetary process. REV 2021 included equality indicators for a number of Votes across twelve Ministerial Vote Groups. In March of this year, Government agreed to establish an inter-departmental network on Equality Budgeting in order to further support the implementation of Equality Budgeting across all departments.
This work is reflected in the REV 2022 with Equality Budgeting indicators now included for a range of Votes across eighteen Ministerial Vote Groups.
Minister McGrath commented:
“The publication of the Revised Estimates sees just under €83 billion being allocated across Departments with a further €4½ billion being held in reserve to allow the Government respond to the challenges of Covid-19 and Brexit.
“As a Government we are delivering on our commitment to make the necessary resources available to deal with Covid, from both a public health perspective but also how it impacts on families and businesses. Expenditure allocated in Departmental Estimates for Covid-19 related measures amount to just over €3 billion with a further €4 billion in the Covid Contingency Reserve. This brings to €7 billion the total available to deliver key public services, respond to the challenges of Covid-19 and to support our workers and businesses impacted by the pandemic.
“Separately, the level of resources being set aside for core spending in REV 2022 is very significant – just over €80 billion in 2022 compared to just over €70 billion in the pre-Covid REV for 2020. This additional spending is supporting the delivery of key Government priorities in areas including Housing, Health, Social Protection and Climate Action.
“With significant levels of resources allocated to the delivery of key public services, I am focused on how these resources are being utilised and how they are impacting on the lives of the Irish people. The Performance and Equality Budgeting metrics provided in the REV contain important information highlighting the progress we are making in this regard.”
Notes to Editor
Further details on REV adjustments
Covid-19 Allocations - €96 million
- €10 million to the Department of Transport for a support scheme for travel agents;
- €10 million to the Department of Social Protection in respect of the Covid mitigation redundancy and insolvency scheme;
- €25 million to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media for additional supports to the Live Entertainment sector; and
- €51 million to Department of Education in relation to Covid-19 measures in term 2 of the 2021/2022 school year.
Shared Island Fund Allocations - €25 million
- €10 million assigned to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage for the Ulster Canal Project and Narrow Water Bridge;
- €15 million allocated to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science to provide for the 2022 costs of the North-South Research Programme to support the deepening of links between institutions, researchers and research communities.
Brexit Adjustment Reserve - €54 million
Ireland will receive just over €1 billion from the EU’s Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR), the biggest single allocation for any Member State, representing just over 20% of the total funding available.
The purpose of the Reserve is to help counter the adverse economic and social consequences of Brexit in the sectors and Member States that are worst affected. In Ireland's case, funding will be directed at areas such as enterprise supports; supports for the agri-food and fisheries sectors, reskilling and retraining; and checks and controls at our ports and airports.
Some €54.3 is being allocated to Departments as initial funding, with further allocations to be provided later in the year when there is more certainty on requirements and timelines in relation to spending profiles. Initial allocations are made in the REV to:
- the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (€14.5m) for the Skillnet Digital Skills Programme and Erasmus after Brexit initiatives;
- the Office of Public Works (€1.8m) to support their work developing the infrastructure for checks and controls at Rosslare Europort;
- the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine as initial funding for fisheries (€32m) and horticulture (€1m) measures; and
- the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (€5m) as initial funding for certain schemes to support business impacted by Brexit.
Unallocated Core Current Funding - €32 million
Expenditure Report 2022, included a total of €182 million in unallocated core current funding within the overall expenditure amount. This included €7 million in respect of the Housing for All Implementation Fund that has now been assigned to Departments responsible for relevant actions. The REV estimates also reflect the allocation of €25 million from this unallocated amount. This includes:
- €7.6 million to Chief State Solicitor’s Office;
- €6 ½ million to Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth;
- €4 million to the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science;
- €2 million to the Department of Rural and Community Development;
- approximately €1 million each to the Department of Health, Department of Education and the Office of the Attorney General; and
- almost €1½ million between the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Office of Public Works and the Office of Government Procurement.
ENDS