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

I accept what Mr. Ó Foghlú is saying but it is not the full picture because local authorities, which also process grant applications, were always under the Ombudsman's remit, even though the VECs were not.

I refer to the €20 million in unspent capital funds in 2012. The Department's Estimates contained an allocation of €500,000 for a special memorial project for the victims of child abuse. That did not proceed. I attended another committee meeting an hour before this one at which the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform dealt with the deferred surrender to the central fund of unspent funds and provided that they could be transferred to the 2013 budget. Given the Oireachtas gave the Department the money to undertake this project for victims of child abuse 12 months ago, why did it not happen? While I acknowledge it is the intention to commence the project in the second half of the year, is Mr. Ó Foghlú satisfied it will proceed?