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

It might help the Deputy to hear my explanation for them. I will begin with the second issue. We got it wrong. The Deputy's question is the first one I ask as Minister of State when people come to me looking for Supplementary Estimates. The dilemma in this case is that we depend on other Departments to tell us how many retirements we are getting. Any public servant who is over the age of 60 can retire at any stage in the year by informing the relevant Department of his or her intentions. That cost is borne by the Department in question. We recoup those moneys to the various Departments through this Vote. It is not a question of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform getting anything wrong. It is a demand-led situation. As long as the scheme allows people to retire at any time - one could decide to do so at 11.50 p.m. on 31 December - a cost will have to be borne. In response to the Deputy's suggestion that we have got it wrong by 20%, I would like to invite him to look at the overall Vote.