Brian Walsh (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his detailed account of where the moneys are being sourced and where they are going. There is an increase of €36 million in the CIE subvention. I presume whatever cuts are made next week or in future weeks for next year's budget will be from the base of €242 million and not the €278 million. I know the Minister of State is awaiting the detail of the five-year plan. Is there a danger that we will be back in 12 months looking at this? Fare increases have been highlighted as a way of filling the gap so to speak. Are economies of scale at play that might lead to bigger problems next year in terms of the subvention required?

Most of that additional subvention is coming from money allocated to capital expenditure. Is it not unusual for additional current expenditure to be funded from an underspend on the capital side? Can the Minister of State give us some guarantee that future capital expenditure will not be reduced by the amount being reallocated here? Can he confirm that the various capital items he has highlighted will proceed and not be dropped at the expense of other planned capital projects?