Donohoe warns government departments that capital budgets won't be available to cover current expenditure overspends

The Departments of Social Protection and Department of Health are the two highest spending areas in Government

In previous years, Government departments would see their 'overall expenditure position improved because the capital budget wasn't spent', Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said. 

Government departments are on track to use their full allocation of capital expenditure this year which means those funds won’t be available to cover any overspending in other areas, Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has warned, as several are already experiencing cost overruns.

On Thursday, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform published its mid-year expenditure report which detailed the spending by all the Government departments.