Government levy will impact funding for Uisce Éireann, IDA, Fáilte Ireland

Uisce Éireann, Fáilte Ireland and IDA Ireland are among the State agencies and bodies that will lose out on funding due to a Government levy aimed at offsetting increased spending in the Department of Education.The Coalition earlier this year agreed to put in place a levy of €466 million across all Government departments to offset the overrun.Briefing notes on the plans of each department to deal with the levy were sought by the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC).The Department of Housing, in its response, is understood to be the first to provide a breakdown on where savings – €5 million in its case – will be made. READ MOREIt said it proposed to earmark savings and efficiencies to the value of €3,832,550 in its own spending, while Uisce Éireann is being asked to generate about €1.038 million. The department said it “expects to absorb these reductions through continued implementation in 2027 of its programme of efficiencies and reforms”.In its reply, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment said Fáilte Ireland, IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, local enterprise offices, the Corporate Enforcement Authority, the Workplace Relations Commission and the Companies Registration Office would be affected by it reducing spending by €5.9 million. The department said it had not been possible to bring about a reduction of €8 million on its current expenditure allocation for next year under the levy by means of efficiencies and reform measures alone.The Department of Defence said the €12 million levy on its current expenditure for next year could be managed in the short term through reprioritisation and expenditure controls. However, it said this would create “significant additional pressure on the implementation of the Commission on the Defence Forces transformation programme and will reduce flexibility to address any emerging or unforeseen operational exigencies”. [ Budget 2027: ‘Specific consideration’ for measures to tackle rising heating oil costsOpens in new window ]“It should also be noted that as capital investment in equipment, infrastructure and capabilities increases, so too do the recurring costs of operating, maintaining and sustaining those assets. Consequently, this makes reductions in current funding more challenging when measured against recent and planned capital investment.”The Department of Defence said while military pensions and capital projects had been considered off-limits from the levy, the Department of Public Expenditure had not exempted the pay bill in the defence sector.However, the Department of Defence said that “given the priority assigned to recruitment of additional Defence Forces members, (it) has proposed to accommodate the €12 million levy on the non-pay current expenditure subheadings of the 2027 Defence vote”.PAC chairman and Sinn Féin TD John Brady said the levy was “the result of the failure of the Government’s initial budgeting process, which left the Department of Education short of the funding needed to deliver vital services”.“We now learn that, as a result of this Government failure, other departments are having their plans disrupted and are scrambling to find cuts. This is no way to do business,” he said.“Of particular concern is the reference by the Department of Defence to significant additional pressure on the implementation of the Commission on the Defence Forces’ transformation programme.”