Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 September 2023
199. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform about progress to date in developing and implementing a system to track and report expenditure allocations that may adversely impact biodiversity; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41016/23]
View answerSince 2019, the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform has been reporting the level of expenditure with a probable climate impact annually in the Revised Estimates Volume for Public Services (REV). The classification of such expenditure is validated and updated every year before being published in the REV.
Building on the progress made in relation to capital expenditure as part of the National Development Plan Review, the next phase of reform focuses on both broadening the coverage of Green Budgeting to further areas of public spending and identifying government spending measures that may be having an adverse impact on climate and environmental outcomes, including biodiversity impacts.
A first step in this regard which was the publication of a review of fossil fuel subsidies and other potentially climate-harmful supports in January 2023, incorporating an inventory of fossil fuel subsidies and other potentially climate harmful supports.
My Department has begun working towards incorporating the tracking of both climate-favourable and potentially climate-unfavourable expenditure across a wider range of areas, including biodiversity, within the REV reporting structures, and is currently in the process of developing an appropriate methodology for this, informed by international experience and the lessons learned to date. Further refinement of the methodology is underway, and it is intended to include a table identifying potentially climate unfavourable expenditure allocations in the publication of future iterations of the Revised Estimates Volume. The Department will also publish supporting information on methodologies used to arrive at assessments alongside the REV.
Green budgeting initiatives can play an important role in enhancing transparency and accountability and this planned expansion of green budget tagging will play an important role in strengthening our understanding of the direct and indirect climate and biodiversity impacts of public expenditure.
As this is a continually evolving area of budgetary reform, my officials remain available to arrange a more in-depth briefing on this work, and to directly consider any concerns or comments you may have in relation to the proposed plan of work.
