Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 April 2026
52. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to provide an update on the impact that the intervention of the Defence Forces in the current fuel protests will have on public expenditure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27571/26]
View answerIn relation to overall public expenditure, my Department regularly provides detailed information on how public money is allocated, spent and the associated outputs. Some examples of the publications where this information can be found are summarised below.
• The Expenditure Report is published in October every year as part of the Budget day documentation. This report sets out the expenditure allocations for each vote. Further detail in respect of each of the Vote Groups is contained in the relevant chapter in Part II of the Expenditure Report.
• The Revised Estimates for Public Services (REV) is published in December each year. This document sets out details of the annual expenditure allocation for each Vote at subhead level. It contains performance budgeting information linked to these subhead lines and describes how public resources will be utilised to provide public services and the impact of public policies on people’s lives.
• Information on levels of spending across the year are published each month in the Fiscal Monitor, which compares spending for each Department against the previous year and the profiled spending plan set out for each month by Departments. This fiscal monitor can be found at www.gov.ie/en/department-of-finance/publications/fiscal-monitor-march-2026/.
• My Department actively monitors spending developments throughout the year and is in ongoing engagement with all other Departments as part of this to identify any spending risks and mitigations.
The intervention of the Defence Forces and the associated expenditure is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Defence. In the context of the Deputy's question, the Department of Defence has provided the following update.
The Defence Forces, pursuant to their role of rendering ‘aid to the civil power’, may assist an Garda Síochána, as required, in a range of duties. As Defence funding is managed through a single programme with all operational outputs delivered from a single set of forces encompassing the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service, any operational costs arising from the Defence Forces role in providing assistance to An Garda Síochána last week, will be fully met from within the overarching 2026 financial envelope provided. The detail relating to these specific operational costs is currently not available.
