Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the select committee, I welcome the Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Patrick O’Donovan, and his officials. I thank them for their time, and I apologise for the delay in starting. We had an overrun in first half of our meeting. Members will have received the briefing documents provided by the Department in advance of the meeting. Once again I thank the officials for providing the briefing materials in a timely manner.

In relation to the format of the meeting, the purpose of today's meeting is to consider the Revised Estimate and performance information regarding the outputs and impacts of the programme of expenditure. The programme-based structure of the Estimate should allow the committee to focus on what the Department is committed to achieving in terms of actual outputs and outcomes; consider whether the performance targets included in the Estimate sufficiently complete the description of the services provided by the Department and whether those targets strike the right balance in terms of the needs of society; and to consider whether the information provided by the Department makes clear how the money is available or allocated between services and whether those allocations are the most appropriate in the circumstances. I call on the Minister of State to make his opening remarks.