Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is a point Deputy Fleming raised. I had a concern. The only area in which I saw a porousness between current and capital spending was in the HSE. The staff in the HSE felt that money was money. We need to have very clear segregation not only between current and capital spending, which is very basic. Money voted for mental health services should be spent on that, or moneys voted for children or disabilities should be spent on the area for which voted and not sloshed around and spent as the HSE decides. This committee in addition to the Committee of Public Accounts has a job of work to ensure that actually happens in a very transparent way.

By and large that is the way it is now. The Chairman asked two questions on the allocation of capital budgets to current spending, one cannot reallocated capital to current spending. I want to be flexible. If a Minister tells me that the same envelope of money can be better spent on a different capital project that is a new priority I have no difficulty in allocating that.