Finance Minister to be grilled on €1bn health overrun
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is to be grilled today about the potential overspend of €1bn in the Department of Health’s budget.
While the overrun in Health has topped €650m, it is expected to increase significantly by the year-end.
Mr Donohoe has yet to clarify where the money to pay for the overspend will come from but has signalled a supplementary estimate will be required
to plug the black hole.
He will have to face questions from the Oireachtas Budgetary Oversight Committee. In its new pre-budget report, the committee has recommended that any additional monies required by Government departments, arising from budget over-runs, should be clearly identified in the allocations set out in the revised estimates.
For example, the committee noted that the Voted Allocations provided for in respect of the Health (Vote 38) in Budget 2018 are highly likely to increase in November 2018, in the event that a supplementary estimate is sought.
“When the Estimates are published for Budget 2019, this additional amount would not be shown. As a result, the scale of increase or decrease in the Health Vote is not clearly visible throughout the budget process, and its potential impact on budget planning is also unclear,” said the report.
The committee has agreed to request a meeting with Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and Department of Health officials to discuss the current approach to managing budgets in the Health Department and, in particular, the impact of supplementary estimates on budget planning.
“The Committee recommends that where a Government department is considering a Supplementary Estimate, that Government also provides information to the relevant Oireachtas Committee on where that money is coming from, ie underspend from a particular area,” said the report.
The committee has also requested that because of the significant and consistent annual increases in house prices over the last decade, the Government should consider increasing the Group A inheritance tax threshold from €310,000 to €500,000.
