Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not happy with the response. I know the role of the committee. I do not sit on the Committee of Public Accounts. The role of the committee is to scrutinise the Estimates. I would not be doing my job if I did not ask questions such as the purpose of a new spend of €100,000. I know it is for the programme and to assign somebody to the Civil Service but what I still do not know is whether the money is for the civil servant or for consultants to tell us how to operate the programme. I know the money has not been spent but the reason it has appeared in the Estimates is that the Department has a view that it might need to be spent for this purpose. It might not be spent but the money will be there. I hope the figure has not been plucked out of the air. The Minister has not given an indication of who will be the beneficiary of the €100,000 under the programme. It is our job to say money should not be spent on a specific area if we believe it is a misuse of public funds.