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

Yes. The detailed question is on the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. More than half of the carry-forward of €132, some €72 million, comes from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. I think my figures are correct. The appropriation account for 2012 was a total of €107 million and again, more than €43 million, 40%, came from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. We are finding, year in, year out, that the Department is not using the money. The standard answer is that if is not easy to time contracts and work. However, there must be some reason this is happening in the Department. On one occasion the Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin, expressed unease, following the difficulty in securing the funding, that it was not properly drawn down. Some 12 months ago we were told that the €43 million was for water services schemes that had not progressed as quickly as they might. In the note provided in respect of one of charts, it is stated that of the €72 million, €44.868 million of the carry-over is under heading B3 - water services investment, major public water supply. The note states that the savings on the water investment programme of €48 million were due, in part, to the slow drawn-down of activity in the water programme. Will the Minister of State ask the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to forward to the committee a list of what works were expected to be carried but were not completed and the reason €45 million allocated for water services was not spent in 2013? The reason I raise the issue is that the same thing happened the previous year.

There is a systemic problem in the Department. It may be that some schemes were budgeted to proceed but did not proceed or it may be that Irish Water was coming on board and some of the local authorities did not want to have to provide matching funding to the Government grant and, perhaps, held back. Given that it is a recurring theme, I would appreciate a breakdown of the €44 million which is made up of individual amounts for various projects which did not go ahead and which had been built into the water services investment programme for the year.