Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 5 November 2024
Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 11 - Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (Supplementary)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Supplementary)
Vote 13 - Office of Public Works (Supplementary)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Supplementary)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Supplementary)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Supplementary)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Supplementary)
1:20 pm
Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Office of Government Procurement has done work to examine what the drivers of inflation I referred to are. It has been able to relate that back to raw materials and evaluate how the change in the cost of raw materials has impacted on the costs of projects and the procurement process.
As for whether it is abating in any way, there have been some signs the rate of inflation is moderating but, as the Deputy will know, a slower rate of inflation still means prices are increasing. It just means they are increasing at a slower pace. We will need to have a fair bit of low inflation under our belts before we can say it has abated to the extent that it is going to make a big difference to the issues I described. We have mainly accommodated those inflationary pressures by increasing our capital ceilings, which has allowed us to deliver on our commitments and on some additional projects at the same time.
Our capital ceiling going up has allowed us to deliver on our commitments and some additional projects at the same time.