Michael McGrath dismisses speculation of Micheál Martin's future as Fianna Fáil leader

A number of senior party members said they did not expect Micheál Martin to lead Fianna Fáil into the next election but Michael McGrath has backed his constituency colleague

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath. File Picture.

Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath has said now is not the time to be talking about a change of Fianna Fáil leader, as he announced a €19bn deficit for 2020.

Commenting after several of his senior party colleagues said they did not expect Micheál Martin to lead Fianna Fáil into the next election, Mr McGrath said his constituency colleague was doing an “excellent job” and has his full support.

In a strong rebuke to those who have been speaking out in recent days, Mr McGrath told the Irish Examiner: “It's not a time for parties to be talking about leadership issues."

The latest exchequer returns figures published by Mr McGrath and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe show a deficit of €19bn in the public finances last year

Deficit of €19 billion expected in 2020: Taxes down €2.1 billion & expenditure up €17.9 billion on 2019 - Donohoe & McGrath.

Read more: https://t.co/kNEwcfyAEz pic.twitter.com/F9iQxCjmNC

— Department of Finance (@IRLDeptFinance) January 5, 2021

On a positive note, that is a modest improvement on their Budget Day forecast of €21.6bn, and well inside the worst-case scenario forecast of €30bn.

Yet, it is significantly worse than the surplus of €1.4bn in 2019.

Mr Donohoe said he believed the package of financial supports announced in the budget were enough to insulate the country from the worst impact of Covid-19.

In his address, Mr McGrath said there was approximately €12bn in "firepower" available to use over the course of 2021 to cope with the impacts of the virus. He outlined that the majority of this extra spending had gone to the Departments of Social Protection, where the budget is now over €30bn this year, up 47% and Health, up 18%.

The exchequer figures show that total voted spending was up €13.7bn or 25.3%, on 2019.

On the tax side, revenues were down €2.1bn compared to 2019.

Mr McGrath said the figures show the full extent of the Government response to Covid-19 in 2020. Gross voted expenditure in 2020 reached €85.3bn, nearly €18bn higher than 2019.

“Just under €5bn was spent on the Pandemic Unemployment Payment in 2020 together with €4.1bn for the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme and its successor the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, demonstrating the scale of the Government’s commitment to protecting household income for people across the State,” he said.

“Gross voted expenditure on health grew by €3.4bn to nearly €20.9bn, ensuring that the necessary resources were available to procure vital equipment, support vulnerable citizens and build a testing and tracing regime for the virus,” he added.

Budget 2021 was based on a prudent “no vaccine” assumption and both the recovery fund and the Covid contingency reserve were designed to ensure the funding was in place to continue the national fightback against this unprecedented challenge, he said.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Mr McGrath’s top official, Robert Watt, has been appointed to the position of Secretary General at the Department of Health.

Robert Watt is going to be the new Secretary General in Health..eh?? Get those pubs open again quick lads! pic.twitter.com/BiMLTxVs1H

— Diarmuidi Brenanelli (@dermottb) January 5, 2021

The combative civil servant has served as Secretary General at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform since its creation in 2011. He served for an initial seven-year term and was re-appointed by Mr Donohoe when he held both finance portfolios.

Mr Watt will be formally approved by Cabinet today and will take up his post with immediate effect. The post of Secretary General in the Department of Health has been vacant since Jim Breslin moved to head up the new Department of Higher Education. The Acting Secretary General Colm O Reardon will now take up a position in the Department of Finance.