Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Fitzgerald, and her officials to the meeting and thank them for the briefing supplied to the committee. I remind the Minister's officials that as this is a select committee meeting they may not participate in the debate and are here only to be of assistance to the Minister, if required. I mention this because the committee secretariat was suitably admonished recently for allowing interventions by officials at a previous meeting of the Select Sub-Committee on Health. Under Standing Orders, officials are not permitted to contribute to the debates of select committees. I remind everybody to switch off their mobile telephones.

The purpose of this meeting is consideration of the 2014 Revised Estimates for Public Services: Vote 40 - Department of Children and Youth Affairs. As Members will be aware, the 2014 Revised Estimate was presented to the Dáil in the new programme-based format. This means that the Revised Estimate, as presented, contains the following information for each programme: how it is proposed to spend the money allocated to this programme and the previous year's outturn in each case; the number of staff assigned to work on the programme and how this compares with the previous year; performance-related information; departmental outputs, again with corresponding information for previous years; and what are termed "performance" and "impact" indicators with previous years' information. Administrative expenditure for the Vote as a whole is summarised in more detail than was previously the case.

The Revised Estimate provides us with an opportunity to review whether targets set and the distribution of moneys across the Vote for 2014 are appropriate in all the circumstances and demonstrate best use of resources. It also provides us with an opportunity to explore issues facing the Minister in terms of the allocation for 2014. A timetable for the meeting has been agreed and circulated. It allows for the Minister and all spokespersons to make a ten minute opening statement, which will be followed by a debate on the 2014 Revised Estimate, with questions on each programme listed therein. As this is the Minister's first appearance before us this year, I take this opportunity to wish her and her officials a happy and prosperous new year and invite her to make her opening statement.