About

The Where Your Money Goes website is a graphical, easy-to-use tool for examining gross (Voted and Non-Voted) Government expenditure over a period of ten years. The data is presented in a variety of interactive charts, the elements of which may be clicked on to show a greater level of detail. The figures shown on this site represent the gross voted and non-voted expenditure from 2012 to 2023. Note that the 2022 to 2023 figures represent estimated expenditure rather than actual expenditure. Note that non-core allocations and transfers of functions across Departments may impact figures and comparison of expenditure across time. The data on this website was last updated in January 2023.

Where does the money come from

All tax payments and other revenues received by the State are paid into a central fund, called "the Exchequer".

Government expenditure is funded from the Exchequer.

Government receives money from a number of sources:

• Tax revenue is paid by people and businesses.
• Non-Tax revenue comes from a number of sources including income from the Central Bank of Ireland, dividends from shares owned by Government and the National Lottery.
• Some money is generated by Government Departments and bodies for their own use. This is called "Appropriations-in-Aid".
• Capital receipts can include receipts from the EU and loan repayments to the Exchequer.

How is the Money Spent

Money raised by the Government is spent on delivering public goods and services. It is divided into current and capital expenditure.

Current expenditure covers day-to-day spending by Government Departments, Agencies and Non-Commercial State Bodies and includes the wages and pensions of public servants.

Capital expenditure includes spending on long-term physical assets (such as roads, bridges, hospital buildings and schools) and on non-physical assets (such as computer software). 

During the annual Budget process an allocation of spend for the coming year is agreed between each Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. This amount is then voted on (approved) by the Dáil and is called Voted Expenditure.

Non-Voted expenditure is not subject to annual Dáil approval but is allowed for under existing laws. It includes spending such as interest on the National Debt and Ireland’s contribution to the EU Budget. It also includes costs such as the Houses of the Oireachtas and the salaries of judges.

Gross Voted Expenditure

The gross voted expenditure data reflected in the website detail all the gross spending by government departments and agencies, along with expenditure from the Social Insurance Fund and the National Training Fund. It includes funding that has been allocated at Departmental level only, funding held centrally is not reflected. The underlying data is available on the PER Databank.

• The 2012 to 2020 data is sourced from the actual expenditure returns as shown in the annual Appropriation Accounts.
• The 2021 data is sourced from the Appropriation Account for 2021.
• The 2022 data is sourced from the REV Estimates for 2022.
• The 2023 data is sourced from the REV Estimates for 2023.

Non-Voted Expenditure

Non-voted expenditure comes directly from the central fund and includes items such as debt-servicing costs, EU Budget contributions, costs of the Houses of the Oirceachtas and the salaries of the judiciary etc.

• The 2012 to 2016 data is sourced from the annual Finance Accounts.
• The 2018 data is sourced from the December 2018 Exchequer Statement.
• The 2019 to 2022 data is based on the latest Provisional Outturn provided by the Department of Finance.
• The 2023 data is based on the latest Budget 2023 Estimates provided by the Department of Finance.

Features

Features of the website are:

• Analysis of Government expenditure and estimated expenditure on a yearly basis.
• Dedicated summaries for the main categories of expenditure (Social Protection, Health, Education etc.).
• A high-level summary of expenditure related to servicing the national debt, EU contributions etc.
• Interactive charts with drill-down capabilities.
• Trend analysis of expenditure over the last ten years.