Since the beginning of the year, there have been significant spending shocks, including the likes of the Department of education and the war in West Asia, driving fuel prices and the need for a support package as a result for so many users. Will the Minister advise if overall expenditure is still on profile?

The latest fiscal monitor, published on 6 May, showed that at 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 €600 million, or 1.8%, below profile.

Looking at the composition of spending, current expenditure at the end of April was €32.3 billion, which was €250 million, or 0.8%, below profile. Capital expenditure was €3.8 billion, which was €400 million, or 9.5%, below profile.

It is early in the year to say what spending levels seen to date might mean for the end-year position. My Department is in ongoing contact with all finance officers to monitor and review expenditure trends. While the overall expenditure position at the end of April is within profile, the end-of-April current expenditure year-on-year growth rate of 9.3% will need to moderate over the year.

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 the Government. The Government agreed a medium-term fiscal and structural plan last December, which set out ceilings for the period to 2030. It provides for significant uplifts in expenditure, with gross voted spending to reach €147.3 billion in 2030. To ensure we progress across this structural plan, there is a need for strengthened expenditure control and renewed fiscal discipline. It is the responsibility of the Accounting Officer in each Department to ensure that they manage their expenditure allocations sustainably and in accordance with the allocation approved by the Dáil.

My Department recently issued Circular 21/2026, Expenditure Control and Escalation Process, to all Government Departments. It reinforces other recent measures to strengthen expenditure control, provides a clear framework for managing expenditure and sets out phases for escalation if spending overruns emerge. Where expenditure pressures persist, the circular sets out a framework for when and how my Department will engage with respect to other Government-----

Thank you, Minister.

A significant support package had to be put in place for fuel and transport earlier this year arising from that conflict in West Asia. I am conscious that the date for the agri scheme has been extended from Wednesday through to next Tuesday to ensure that the maximum number of farmers and contractors can get their applications in. I understand that a Supplementary Estimate on that is due in the weeks ahead. I am conscious that no matter how quickly that conflict in the Gulf were to be resolved - and it needs to be resolved sooner rather than later - elevated fuel prices would continue for some time and likely feed through into so many other costs for people. Does the Department have space to extend the schemes that are there if the conflict and the high pressure continue through the summer? Many of those schemes are due to end during the summer.

Obviously, that was and is an important fiscal intervention to respond to the energy spike we have seen, particularly with respect to the transport and the agriculture sectors. We are following the wider guidance we see from the IMF and others, that is, that schemes should be temporary, targeted and time bound in order that they do not involve permanent expenditure implications. We have said consistently that in July, when some of the interventions are due to lapse, we will assess that in the context of the energy position globally and make an informed decision in that context. I brought to the Government the two Supplementary Estimates relating to transport and agriculture on Tuesday of this week. We are conscious of continuing to review the overall position. Some of the schemes - for example, in the agriculture sector - have a five-month timeline as regards their wider implementation. We will assess that in July. We are not making any commitments until we can assess the position in July because some of the decisions run to that point.

Yes, it is right to focus on where the greatest need is. So many farmers and contractors were under phenomenal pressure. They are getting their applications in at the moment. It is a very busy time of year for them. We are also all watching that date in the summer when the schemes and the supports would be expected to finish out. The Minister is right that the Department will have to review the position at that point. The key question, then, is whether the Department has the fiscal space or the funding available or whether it will need further Supplementary Estimates at that point to return and to review those supports or any other supports that might be needed later in the summer. Is the funding there?

As the Deputy knows, in the annual progress report that is published, we expect to run a general government surplus of about €9 billion this year. We are running a surplus, which makes the case for the importance of having fiscal buffers in a world which is so uncertain in the context of geopolitical conflict and when we have spending demands every day in this House across multiple areas. It is important that we review that in July and that we are careful in the context of further interventions. We know from the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living period in 2022 that, notwithstanding the temporary nature of some of those schemes, they had permanent expenditure implications in certain areas, which then created trade-offs or constraints in future decisions that could be made. We will review that and take an informed decision in July. We are conscious of the dynamism of the global energy market and the need to respond with respect to particular sectors but it is important we implement the schemes being applied for presently, which may reflect more support here than in many other countries, and then take an informed position in July. We will know where the position is at that point.