• Home
  • NAMA property for sale
  • About
  • The Developers
  • The Tranches

NAMA Wine Lake

Click the green link above for latest news and over 2,600 related articles. NAMA – National Asset Management Agency – part of Ireland's response to its banking crisis and property bubble

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Former Treasury Holdings executives arise from the ashes to manage NAMA properties
One of NAMA’s €200k a year developers reports annual loss of €0.5bn »

Did government Departments really spend €850m on capital expenditure in the month of December 2012 ?

January 4, 2013 by namawinelake

ExchequerAugtoDec

The Exchequer statement for December 2012 issued by the Department of Finance yesterday is overall a very positive development for the economy – there was a spectacular bounce in tax revenues during the month which means that the €171m shortfall in year-to-date tax income recorded in November 2012 was reversed and we end the year an impressive €271m ahead of plan. Current spending however got modestly worse in December and we ended the year €666m behind plan, compared with an €654m adverse variance in November. But the third element of the basic national profit and loss account, capital expenditure, it really had an amazing turnaround in December because at the end of November 2012 we had spent €2.446bn of our capital budget which was a whopping €405m behind budget. This shortfall was the subject of trenchant criticism on here because what the Government was apparently doing, was cutting back on the capital budget so as to fund overruns in current spending, mostly in James Reilly’s Department of Health, and in the Department of Social Protection.

But by the end of December 2012, capital expenditure had climbed €843m from €2.446bn to €3.489bn and at year end, capital spending was just €145m behind budget. Amazing.

And slightly incredible, that one quarter of the total annual spend was in the final seasonal month of the year, The information released yesterday doesn’t give any breakdown of the spend in December 2012 by project but we do learn that Phil Hogan’s Department of the Environment spent €352m in December alone, and Leo Varadkar’s Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport spent €286m.

That we are spending our capital budget is to be welcomed because this is one way in which our tax euros get recycled back to us, and economists will tell you that shovel-ready construction in particular is one of the best ways of a government generating economic growth. By not spending €145m of the capital budget in 2012, we have lost 1-3,000 jobs based on Department of Finance and NAMA projections.

But did we really spend €843m on capital projects in the month of December? Because if we did, you would expect a big boost to employment figures which will be released at 11am today by the CSO. Somehow, though I have my doubts.

Advertisement

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in IMF, Irish economy, Politics | 5 Comments

5 Responses

  1. on January 4, 2013 at 10:06 am bjg

    In one case of which I have anecdotal evidence, [at least some of] December’s increased capital spending went on imported equipment rather than “shovel-ready construction”. It did help to get the budget spent before the end of the year, though. It might be interesting to find out how much of December’s increase went on new kit rather than on wages. bjg


    • on January 4, 2013 at 5:31 pm Dreaded_Estate

      Could it simply be some large capital projects which had an end of year start or end date when payment was due?


  2. on January 4, 2013 at 8:09 pm Please Tell Me I'm Wrong

    This happens every year. Similar pattern in 2011 if you look here http://per.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/NetExpenditureProfiles2011.pdf
    Replies to parliamentary questions suggest that the “end-loading” pattern is due to a number of factors including a tendency to pay the big bills towards the end of the year. As suggested by previous commentator, there are suspicions that some of it may represent last-minute (i.e poorly planned) purchases of ICT and other items of expensive kit due to the “spend-it-or-lose-it” attitude that used to prevail in these matters. There may also be an element of “round the corner” spending and feather-bedding for the year ahead, albeit no doubt justified by contractual obligations. At any rate, you have made an interesting observation which raises questions as to whether capital spending is being properly managed or whether it is something of a runaway train. Remember, this is borrowed money and it is costing us.


  3. on January 4, 2013 at 9:52 pm Kieran Sullivan (@techspeakieran)

    Is there a breakdown of this capital budget published at any stage?

    Or if not, would it be subject to an FOI request?


    • on January 5, 2013 at 10:18 am namawinelake

      @Kieran, I think you are looking for a breakdown by project, and all we have from this Government is the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme published in November 2011

      Click to access Infrastructure-and-Capital-Investment-2012-16.pdf

      And of course the infamous €2.25bn stimulus announcement last summer
      http://per.gov.ie/2012/07/17/minister-howlin-announces-an-additional-e2-25-billion-domestic-infrastructure-stimulus-to-create-much-needed-jobs/

      For information, there is now a monthly breakdown of capital and current spend by government Department – this is the year end breakdown

      Click to access analspenddec.pdf

      And this is the November 2012 breakdown.

      Click to access analspendnov.pdf



Comments are closed.

  • Recent Posts

    • Test – 12 November 2018
    • Farewell from NWL
    • Happy 70th Birthday, Michael
    • Of the Week…
    • Noonan denies IBRC legal fees loan approval to Paddy McKillen was in breach of European Commission commitments
    • Gayle Killilea Dunne asks to be added as notice party in Sean Dunne’s bankruptcy
    • NAMA sues Maria Byrne and Graham Byrne in Dublin’s High Court
    • Johnny Ronan finally wins a court case
  • Recent Comments

    Wisemama on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    Dorothy Jones on Of the Week…
    Sean Bean on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    John Foody on Of the Week…
    Wisemama on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    otto on Of the Week…
    Frank Street on Of the Week…
    Wisemama on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    John Gallaher on Of the Week…
    John Gallaher on Of the Week…
    who_shot_the_tiger on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    Sean Bean on Eddie Hobbs’s US “partner” fir…
    otto on Of the Week…
    Brian Flanagan on Of the Week…
    Robert Browne on Gayle Killilea Dunne asks to b…
  • Twitter Updates

    • Funniest case in Irish legal history? 1. ex-Cllr Fred Forsey convicted of RECEIVING a corrupt payment 2. developer… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • Really looking forward to this at 9pm tonight, esp the first Garda on the scene. Well worth reading this background… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • Tea time on the day the president of the ECB tells us we [in Ireland] are paying more interest on our loans than th… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • “I am grateful for you to refer to Mr Sugarman...on the specific question of Unicredit, responsibility at ECB lies… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • @JMcGuinnessTD now confronts ECB about "the honest whistleblower" @WhistleIRL and his disclosures of liquidity issu… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • Details, including court documents of class action in New York against Ryanair and CEO Michael O'Leary.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • Draghi tells @paulmurphy_TD the ECB doesn't remove govts, the people do, that's democracy. Bet the people will be m… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    • Wow! Draghi says there is no net interest cost for the Anglo bonds whilst they're held by the Irish central bank. T… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 4 years ago
    Follow @namawinelake
  • Click on date for that day’s posts

    January 2013
    M T W T F S S
     123456
    78910111213
    14151617181920
    21222324252627
    28293031  
    « Dec   Feb »
  • Blog Stats

    • 5,113,731 hits

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • NAMA Wine Lake
    • Join 1,326 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • NAMA Wine Lake
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: