The Government's planned increase in current and capital spending next year will be broadly in line with the 6 per cent rise announced this time last year. Marc Coleman, Economics Editor, reports
The spending details will be contained in the Estimates due to be published this afternoon.
Health spending is set to rise by about 10 per cent, bringing the overall health budget to more than €12 billion. The increases will be dominated by the extra cost of pay and pensions in the health sector and increasing demand for primary drugs.
It is expected that the cost of visiting a hospital accident and emergency department will go up from €55 to €60. Charges for private beds in public hospitals are also set to rise. The estimated increase in health spending will exclude the cost of compensation for nursing home charges, some €400 million of which will be allocated to next year's expenditure.
The Department of Education is also set to receive a substantial share of the overall increase in spending, with an expected emphasis on cutting primary school class sizes.
The Department of the Environment's spending plans are likely to include measures to increase social and affordable housing, as well as to improve the secondary road network.
The Department of Transport's expenditure plans will largely comply with the Government's recently announced project, Transport 21, which commits it to spending € 34.4 billion over the next 10 years.
Spending in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is set to rise by about 5 per cent, with extra resources due to be allocated to the Competition Authority, and the newly formed National Consumer Agency.
The latest Exchequer returns showed that Government revenue in the year to October grew by 8.6 per cent over the equivalent period last year, and were almost 5 per cent higher than expected for the period at the time of the last Budget.
As a result, the Government's overall financial position was €1.2 billion better than expected, causing speculation of strong spending increases in the forthcoming budget.
The abridged Estimates for public services and the summary capital programme are published annually in advance of the budget. They conclude a process of negotiation between so-called line departments and the Department of Finance and - subject to some modifications - are usually close to the spending plans announced in the subsequent budget.
The budget, due on December 7th, will be the Government's last opportunity to exert budgetary influence on the economy for a full year before the next general election.