What I have is a question relating to overspends in my Department, which is the wording of the question.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I will respond to it as it is written, and I am happy to engage. I know what the Deputy is raising.
Sentiment score: 0.36
The latest fiscal monitor published on 6 May showed that the end of April gross voted expenditure amounted to €36 billion. This is a €2.9 billion or 8.9% increase compared with April 2025 and reflects the implementation of the priorities set out in budget 2026, and the significant uplift in expenditure to support programme for Government commitments. Compared with the profiles set out by Departments for their planned spending over the year, this was €0.6 billion or 1.8% below profile. For my Department’s Vote, end of April gross expenditure of €593 million was €39 million or 6.2% behind the profile set out. The public expenditure group comprises eight Votes, which are my Department, superannuation and retired allowances, the Office of Public Works, the State Laboratory, secret service, Public Appointments Service, shared services office and the Office of the Ombudsman. None of these were over profile at the end of April. Ensuring that public money is spent efficiently and that taxpayers see clear outputs and outcomes from public spending is a core priority for my Department and for Government. The Government agreed a medium-term fiscal structural plan in December last year. It sets out expenditure ceilings to 2030 and provides significant uplifts in expenditure over the coming years, with gross voted spending to reach €147.3 billion by 2030. In April, Government agreed that additional funding of €646 million will be provided to the Department of Education and Youth in 2026. To accommodate this reprioritisation and to deliver on the 2027 ceiling agreed under the medium-term fiscal plan, other Departments have been asked to deliver a levy focusing on efficiencies and reforms, which will total €446 million from 2027. This should be considered through the lens of an overall uplift of €7 billion for expenditure in 2027. It will not impact the 2026 allocations. The delivery of reforms and efficiencies supports adherence-----
Sentiment score: 0.17
The wording of the question is as it is printed on the question paper, which I have to respond to factually.
Sentiment score: 0.00
I am happy to respond to the question on education that was raised at the budgetary oversight committee too. First, it is being done in the context of the Estimates process for budget 2027. Transport is at 1.4%. Housing is at 0.1% and justice is at 0.7%. We have specifically provided a carve-out for housing for obvious reasons and similarly for justice pay so we do not affect front-line areas. This is obviously in the context of a growing budget. I see this differently, through the lens of driving efficiencies, advancing reforms and enhancing productivity across these areas of public expenditure. I think we can improve outputs in the context of an efficiency and expenditure levy. New priorities emerge in the context of expenditure and that is why we were right to provide that additional funding to the Department of education. That is within a new and agreed fiscal framework. In the context of budget 2027 we will engage with the Departments through the Estimates process. However, each of them has an objective now to drive those efficiencies across these respective areas.
Sentiment score: 0.34
The Deputy is misrepresenting what that is. It is independent research and analysis to advance the objectives set out in the accelerating infrastructure report where there are three or four recommendations or actions in respect of driving public acceptance of infrastructure in the country. It is important because that is an issue across communities where people have concerns. It is about how we build better public acceptance of that. They are doing a piece of work in that context. When you take a €275 billion infrastructure plan over ten years, it is important that we implement those recommendations and actions in the context of the evidence base being built out. In the context of the efficiency levy, it is important that all Government Departments, in as much as they are looking for more, also drive a greater focus on efficiencies and reforms. That is what we are seeking to do across government and that is why we are doing it in a context of the levy we have introduced.
Sentiment score: 0.33
The Government agreed a medium-term fiscal structural plan in December last year. This sets out expenditure ceilings for the period to 2030. It provides significant uplifts in expenditure over the coming years, with gross voted spending to reach €147.3 billion in 2030. As set out in the plan, the ceiling for 2027 will increase to €125.5 billion. This is an uplift of €7 billion over the 2026 expenditure ceiling of €118.5 billion. Delivery of the plan over the medium-term horizon will require enhanced expenditure control, reducing and avoiding in-year decisions with carryover costs for subsequent years and robust oversight mechanisms. In April, Government agreed that additional funding of €646 million will be provided to the Department of Education and Youth in 2026. To accommodate this reprioritisation and deliver on the 2027 ceiling agreed under the plan, a levy has been introduced across other Departments, which have been asked to deliver efficiencies and reforms totalling €446 million from 2027. This should be considered through the lens of an overall uplift of €7 billion for expenditure in 2027 and will not impact 2026 allocations. The delivery of reforms and efficiencies supports adherence to the expenditure ceilings set out in our plan. It reflects the need to moderate the rate of expenditure growth across Departments to facilitate the decision to reprioritise and provide additional investment to the education sector within our wider fiscal framework out to 2030. The scale of the efficiencies to be found ranges from 0.02% to 1.4% on the 2026 current funding across all other Vote groups. The distribution of the levy has been designed to protect certain areas, which are the social protection Vote group non-pay allocation, Department of Health pay allocation, the specialist disability services subhead in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, the Justice, Home affairs and Migration group pay, Housing, Local Government and Heritage group non-pay and pension funding across all Votes. My Department wrote to Secretaries General following the Government decision, informing them of the need to identify efficiencies and reforms, and that this would form a key element of the Estimates engagement for budget 2027. Each Department will now have to determine how the levy will be applied across the Vote group and identify the efficiencies and reforms required to ensure this.
Sentiment score: 0.31
We take everything the council says seriously in the context of its independent role. I am also conscious of what it says on the medium- to long-term horizon about how we manage overall expenditure to ensure it is on a safe and sustainable path. I do not think the council is arguing for a much bigger overall allocation. The Deputy is giving one side and reflecting one side in that context. On the Department of education, the allocation going into 2026 was a 10% allocation, which was far in excess of the overall expenditure growth rate, because of the need to respond to the specific necessities around education within our society, and Government prioritised that over other areas. When it comes to the Department of Health, it is on the back of exponential growth in health expenditure in recent years. There is a need in that Department, and indeed in other Departments, to focus on how we can improve the overall outputs, efficiencies and reforms in the context of the growth in spending in the last five years so we can achieve our overall ambition and objective, which is to moderate current expenditure so we can have the fiscal space to ramp up investment in infrastructure.
Sentiment score: 0.28
What we did very seriously in budget 2026 is ensure most Government Departments are within profile and that their allocation is successfully delivering across what was set out in the budgetary context. The issue with what the Deputy has presented is just taking ELS as it is today and saying you are going to add more avoids the need to drive efficiencies within the current base of spending and the need to drive reforms within the current base of spending so we improve the qualitative outputs that come from that. By just looking at-----
Sentiment score: 0.39
Looking for just additionality in the context of a current expenditure track for a particular policy area does not allow for an overall better evaluation of how we can get more for the current base of spend. That is how we have changed how we have approached overall expenditure policy. We are looking at the total expenditure rather than just looking at ELS and adding more. In the medium term that will improve the overall sustainability of our expenditure-----
Sentiment score: 0.19
-----but also improve efficiencies and strengthen the focus on reform. That is my priority in the months ahead.
Sentiment score: 0.39
I thank Deputy Farrell. The annual Bilderberg conference is a forum to foster dialogue between Europe and North America on major issues facing the world, with attendees from industry, finance, government, academia and the media. The meeting was first held in 1954 and has been regularly attended by Irish Government Ministers on many occasions in recent years. I was invited and attended this year’s event, held in April 2026, in my capacity as Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. This year’s meeting was held in Washington DC and the agenda included a variety of topics such as AI, Arctic security, digital finance, energy diversification, Europe, global trade and the Middle East. While in Washington I also met the US Chamber of Commerce. Both engagements and events provide an important opportunity to engage with the international political and business community on Ireland’s foreign direct investment potential. IDA Ireland reported that in 2025 a record 323 investments, which was a 38% increase over 2024, were achieved and this is expected to create over 15,300 new jobs. Total employment in IDA-supported firms reached a new high of over 312,400 people last year. This underscores the economic value of FDI and engagement with the international community. There is additional information about the event on the official Bilderberg website, which includes information on the organisation’s history, governance, steering committee, meetings, agendas, attendees and press releases.
Sentiment score: 0.27
The Deputy and her party fully understand, in the context of the party's participation in the Executive in the North, the importance of international engagement, foreign direct investment and engagement with the business community. As I said, the role in the context of the attendance at Bilderberg and meeting the US Chamber of Commerce is always to promote Ireland, to engage with many people who invest here and also political leaders in Europe and elsewhere. It is important, as an open, trading economy that we do that. I fully participated in the Cabinet meeting held on Sunday which obviously had advanced the discussions relating to our response and the important interventions we made. The Deputy's approach here, in undermining international engagement, is not fair.
Sentiment score: 0.40
All the attendees at the conference are published on the Bilderberg website, as is the specific agenda across many topics. As I have said it was AI, Arctic security, digital finance, energy diversification, Europe, global trade and the Middle East. It is attended by public representatives - members of government - from parts of Europe and the US, industry leaders and also by members of the media. The wider organisation's meeting agenda, respective press releases and what is discussed are set out. It has been attended by many members of Irish Governments in the past. As I said, it is important, as an open, trading economy that we engage with business leaders and members of government from across the world. It provides an important forum to do that.
Sentiment score: 0.24
The National Shared Services Office, NSSO, a body under the aegis of the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, provides HR, pension, payroll and finance shared services to Government Departments and offices. As part of its remit, it transacts HR, payroll, pension and finance administration for public and civil servants on behalf of 54 client public service bodies. In relation to pension and additional superannuation contribution, ASC, contributions for Ministers, Ministers of State, former Ministers and officeholders, a review into the application of the relevant pension schemes and additional superannuation contribution rates was carried out by the NSSO. The review identified 82 individuals where there was an under-deduction or over-deduction of pension and-or additional superannuation contribution. The NSSO has reached agreement with all current Ministers and Ministers of State in relation to payment of pension contributions due. Agreement has also been reached with the majority of former Ministers and other officeholders impacted by the review. The NSSO is fully committed to ensuring that all moneys owed to the State are fully recouped, with 83% of the moneys owed now paid or in an agreed recoupment plan. It has informed me that there are a small number of outstanding cases where those impacted have yet to commit to a recoupment plan. Engagement is ongoing, with the latest correspondence issued from the NSSO this month. These matters related to pension and ASC contributions and, in cases such as these, the NSSO adopts a consistent process of engagement to ensure the moneys owed are recovered. The NSSO works with each individual to address the error identified. An independent external audit of the NSSO retirement and pension processes is being overseen by the chair of the advisory board of the NSSO, and I have been told it is nearing completion.
Sentiment score: 0.33
As the Deputy knows, given its remit, the wider work of the NSSO is done independently of me. I am not aware of who the current or former Ministers are. The NSSO is trying to progress the remaining number. They all should and must enter into a repayment plan. The NSSO said that the latest correspondence has issued this month. There needs to be full repayment, and I have said that consistently. All current Ministers and Ministers of State have entered into a repayment plan or have fully repaid it, or have been repaid themselves where there was an over-deduction in certain instances. It is important that the remaining number of former Ministers and Ministers of State enter into a repayment plan. I know the NSSO is determined to do that. I am not privy to the correspondence with specific individuals, except to say that the NSSO is progressing work to ensure that people enter specific plans.
Sentiment score: 0.17
The total number of individuals was 82, which included current and former Ministers of State, officeholders and a small number of civil servants. Some 17% of that is what remains. We know that the cohort relating to current Ministers has been accounted for. I do not have the specifics. What I have been told is that the aggregate miscalculation was €359,000, and that 17%, or €62,000, remains. The vast majority of what was owed has been repaid or is in a recoupment plan. Of the 82 cases identified, 63 are now closed. The NSSO is repeatedly finalising this. Although I do not know, there may be individuals who are getting advice or getting it checked to see what is owed. I do not know the specific interactions that are ongoing because I am not familiar with the individuals, and it is confidential information for any individual. I know the policy and direction of the NSSO is to ensure that where anyone owes anything to the State where there has been an under-deduction, that is fully repaid. It is pursuing and engaging with all of the individuals with respect to that.
Sentiment score: 0.10