Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will put your suggestion to the Minister. We might formalise it as a proposal. I do not see a difficulty in that.

The real problem arises if a Minister with responsibility for one of the big expenditure areas decides to save money in a particular area. That is usually bad news because it means schemes being cut or people losing money. The worst circumstance is not achieving that saving, because the task, on a yearly basis, is to make sure those savings are made. That is the challenge we face.

If there is a role for the committee in that we will certainly look at it.