Each department receives feedback on this proposed budget, which when agreed with the Department of Finance, are published in the Book of Estimates. This defines the planned government expenditure for the following year. Once the government decides what they are going to spend, then the Department of Finance has to work out how it will be funded through current taxation measures. The result is then published as the Estimates of Receipts and Expenditure as required by Article 28 of the Irish Constitution. This is to make sure that everyone outside government knows what the government plans to do with our money.
Expenditure is of two main types, central fund and supply services.
Central fund services are necessary expenditure that cannot legally be cut to save money. An example of such expenditure is the payment of interest on government debt. This is why government bonds are such a secure investment. Supply services refers to expenditure by government departments on their areas of responsibility. These are basically expenditure on salaries and operating expenditure for each department.