Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Okay. The other issue I wish to raise is cash balances across all the colleges. People will be surprised to read in page 13 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's special report of the net cash balances in the universities and institutes of technology. At the end of 2010 there was €573 million in cash sitting in the bank. At the end of the 2011 academic year there was €706 million cash in the bank. That is an increase of €133 million in cash sitting in the third level institutions' bank accounts. I am not directing this specifically to Trinity College. It is an increase of 23%. As a member of this committee I will be asking the Accounting Officer of the Department of Education and Skills how he was able to preside over increasing cash balances in the third level institutions' bank accounts when we were making cuts to special needs assistants, increasing pupil-teacher ratios, cutting back on capital expenditure and cutting DEIS schools. It utterly defies all logic. Chairman, I ask you to write to the Accounting Officer of that Department to explain how he can preside over those cash balances while savage cuts are being made in education that affect special needs assistants, disadvantaged schools, pupil-teacher ratios, school transport and so forth. We are accumulating millions in increases in the cash balances of the third level institutions. It will not happen next year. It might be happening in 2012 but it will not happen in 2013. As a public representative, I cannot stand over going back to my constituents and telling them there is €750 million in cash sitting in the universities' bank accounts.

The gentleman from UCD skipped the figure earlier when referring in his opening statement to the current cash balance. He said it is within the agreed parameters. He did everything except give us the figure. What is the current cash balance or the most recent cash balance?