Annual report shows State spent €17.1 billion over pandemic year

The Comptroller and Auditor Generals' annual report, published today, shows that the direct expenditure as a result of Covid-19 was €17.1 billion, between February 2020 and February 2021.

The report shows 90% of this expenditure came from Departments of Social Protection, Health, Enterprise and Housing & Local Government. 

The Department of Health spent €2.7 billion in Covid-related spending, with over one third of that (€920m) being spent on PPE, while the Department of Social Protection spent €11.1 billion with the Pandemic Unemployment payment (PUP) accounting for €6.1 billion.

The temporary wage subsidy scheme and the employment wage subsidy scheme accounts for 43% with a combined spend of €4.8 billion.

Department of Housing and local government paid out €840 million in supports while supports for hospitals and nursing homes cost €600m, including building and equipment costs along with testing and tracing costs.

The vast majority of that, €729m, was in grant funding to local authorities to compensate for the loss of commercial rates during the waiver.

The Department of Education spent €586 million and almost half of that (€268m went in supports to reopening schools while the Department of Transport spent over €400m in the same period with the vast majority (€397m) going to transport companies in the form of additional public service obligation (PSO) grant.

The Revenue Commissioners spent €329 million on the Covid-19 restrictions support scheme (CRSS) which began in October 2020 and allowed businesses significantly affected by restrictions who carried on a business activity, claim for a payment of up to €5,000 a week that its business was affected.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment provided €783 million in supports to businesses impacted by Covid-19, with the majority of it being spent on the business restart schemes (€640m) and the sustaining enterprise fund (€98m)