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First independent look at how houses are run since 2004 amid ‘emerging financial pressures’
First independent look at how houses are run since 2004 amid ‘emerging financial pressures’, the governing body which oversees the operation of the Dáil and Seanad, including all costs and salaries, since its establishment in 2004.
The service’s management board in May warned of “emerging financial pressures within the current multiannual funding cycle”.
‘At least I’m not English’ – How Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood have traded insults down the yearsTesco worker sacked for taking bakery items before they became ‘free to staff’ loses unfair dismissal claim For this year, estimated operational costs of €209.99 million have been forecast, with a further €191.414 million expected to be needed next year, putting it into the red by €24.046 million. ’s budget includes salaries and pensions for TDs, Senators and the 697 civil servants employed to run the Oireachtas, as well as general operational costs.
A confidential draft report outlining the terms of reference for an “Independent Organisational Review of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service” states “value for money is a central objective”. Experience of the current funding cycle “demonstrated the importance of testing long-term planning assumptions, particularly where funding is required to support a three-year period without provision for contingency against changing operational and pay-related costs”.
The “quality and realism of financial forecasting and budgeting and the management of persistent underspends or overspends” will be included in the review. The annual report showed the specific cost of running the Dáil and Seanad last year was €74.188 million, which is estimated to increase to €77.198 million for this year and €74.737 million next year.
The pay and pensions bill was €78.421 million last year and is expected to be €84.294 million this year and €72.849 million next year. The review will, according to the draft document, examine the service’s “structure, workforce, governance, operating model, technology investment and future resource requirements on an objective and independently validated basis”. It will be assessed across “five value-for-money criteria – rationale, economy and efficiency, effectiveness, impact and continued relevance”.
Information and Communications Technology is “among the largest areas of expenditure in the Houses and a significant part of the overall budget”. The review will look at how ICT services are delivered and “identify automation and AI opportunities and any costed rephasing of investment they enable”. Every division and “every function and grade” are included in the review, which will also look at staffing levels.
It will also consider how services are delivered “and the balance between in-house delivery and outsourcing” as well as underlying legislation “and internal protocols with a view to streamlining the bureaucracy, removing duplication and unnecessary process so that routine matters are handled efficiently”. The draft document indicates that once a tender for the review is completed, work will commence in the fourth quarter of this year, with an interim report provided after three months and a final document after six months.
The review is intended to inform and support “the development of the next multiannual funding submission” for 2028-2030. Why is the State’s national equestrian sports body in financial trouble and what will happen to it? Tesco worker sacked for taking bakery items before they became ‘free to staff’ loses unfair dismissal claimParakeets have Londoners in a flap and hunters loading their riflesOur politics team's behind-the-scenes take on events of the day. Sent Monday to Friday when the Dáil is in session
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