Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Let us say it is health and it says €10 billion. If that was the April figure, one would expect in the budget that the proposed sum would be €10 billion. My concern is that the Government is going to set these figures and inform the Dáil that they are the ceilings. In fact, they are the targets. Does the Minister consider that the Dáil loses any of its budgetary oversight ability, limited as it is, in this mechanism? It is not a leading question. I am not convinced that is the case. I am genuinely curious to know if the Dáil is losing anything. I acknowledge that the Dáil is gaining a great deal in terms of oversight in this but is it potentially losing something?