Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Many of us warned before the budget that there were issues in respect of public sector pay. My colleague, Deputy Cullinane, has raised that with the Minister on many occasions and it was ignored. The Minister presented a budget here and asked the Oireachtas to approve a budget. He now suggests that the Government was going to find savings anyway and was not going to spend that amount of money. Consequently, the Estimates were a wee bit bogus since those were not the real figures anyway.

Regardless of the rights or wrongs, we have to deal with the fiscal part of this year. The Minister has come before the committee and has said he has no idea as to how he will get this €120 million but is determined to find it and that it will be found somewhere. The danger in all of that is to service delivery. We have constituents and we know what is happening. Unfortunately, in my constituency efficiencies in the health service meant that when people who had home help support passed away, that home help support was taken into the Health Service Executive and 50% of it was reallocated. This meant people could not get out of hospitals or nursing homes and back into the community. That is what are called "efficiencies". Moreover, the non-recruitment of people into positions was deemed to be savings by the Department. I just do not think it is credible. It is what it is, but it is bizarre that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has come before the Committee on Budgetary Oversight and has told members he does not know at this point in time from where the €120 million will go. As a final point to the Minister, it is expected or at least there is a likelihood that the suspension of water charges will continue during the period of 2017 at a cost of €58 million. Is that €58 million likely to be found down the same couch where the Minister is going to find the €120 million?