OVERVIEW:THE DEPARTMENT of Finance has published its revised Book of Estimates for 2009, detailing the public spending cuts and increases outlined in the April Budget.
Overall the gross cost of running the State will rise 2.4 per cent to €63.9 billion. Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said that without the increases in the Live Register, which have added €2.8 billion to expenditure, and other increases in social welfare, gross spending would have been down by 3.3 per cent.
The estimate for jobseeker’s allowance has increased by 89 per cent from last year to €2.2 billion, while spending on Supplementary Welfare Allowances will increase 29 per cent to €1.1 billion.
The Department of Transport has suffered the largest cuts with its 2009 budget reduced by €617 million to €3.1 billion. While the Department of Finance has reiterated its commitment to complete major inter-city motorways and dual carriageways, the quality of national routes is likely to suffer with the allowance for road maintenance and improvements being cut 16 per cent to €1.92 billion. Road safety agencies also face a 16 per cent cut to €37.2 million.
The Department of Finance said its investment in roads and other capital spending would produce better value-for-money due to the fall in construction costs which has created a “competitive environment for tender prices”.
Although the overall spend on external consultants by the State will drop from €76.9 million to €53.6 million some departments and bodies will increase their spending in this area. The Department of the Taoiseach will increase its spending to €118,000 from €107,000 while the Minister for Finance’s office will spend €2.55 million up from €2.35 million in 2008.
The HSE’s budget is being reduced by 8 per cent with cuts in all administrative areas. Capital spending on building and fitting out of health facilities has been cut by 32 per cent to €370 million, while spending on information systems will increase by 587 per cent to €130 million.
It is clear that relatively small savings have also been sought across the board. The Chief State Solicitor’s office will reduce fees to legal counsel by 15 per cent to €15.2 million while the Director of Public Prosecutions will cut its spend on legal fees by 11 per cent to €12.3 million.
However, a line in the vote for the Department of Defence shows that spending on air transport for Ministers is expected to increase from just over €1 million in 2008 to over €1.5 million this year.
Funds for the purchase and repair of pictures at the National Gallery has been cut from €2.56 million to €1.87 million. Security is one notable area of increased spending at the National Gallery, following the recent unauthorised hanging of a picture of the Taoiseach, and will be up by €50,000 to €480,000.
Although the Equality Authority’s budget is cut by 39 per cent to €3.33 million, the overall spend on equality by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, is up 7 per cent to €23.3 million this year. The former chief executive of the authority, Niall Crowley, resigned because of the extent of the cuts.
Bodies that will see major reductions in their budgets include Dublin Zoo (down 25 per cent to €3 million), the Human Rights Commission (down 32 per cent to €1.6 million) and the Secret Service (down 14 per cent to €700,000).
The public sector wage bill will be reduced by €150 million although the saving is reduced to €130 million when redundancy payments and pension contributions for departing civil servants are factored in.
In total the Government has earmarked €56.6 billion for current spending and €7.3 billion for capital projects. Social welfare accounts for the largest proportion of the current spend, 38 per cent or €21.5 billion, followed by health which will receive 27 per cent or €15.2 billion. Education accounts for 15 per cent or €8.5 billion.