Ms Clare McGrath:

Subject to it being either eight or nine, between 2009 and 2013 the office expended €434 million in agency work for other Departments and we received €435 million. In terms of the entirety of the work being done, I hear what the Deputy has said. I demand that we would be pre-funded because we are entering contracts on their behalf. There can always be issues on timing, whether it is the weather or in terms of the contractor getting started. They have made plans based on one thing.

As I said in my opening statement, I am minded that Government accounting could be looked at in this area. I might say the Office of Public Works should be treated as a mature liability from the point of view of the demand to avoid this kind of re-accounting. In certain respects on what I call our maintenance side, that has now been eliminated by one of 13 transferring the funds to us. We are now dealing with them, and doing the work and the funding, so that has eliminated some of this issue.