Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It has been agreed that I will act as Chair. We hope the Chairman of the committee, Deputy John McGuinness, will arrive at a later stage. I remind Deputies to ensure their mobile phones are switched off. This is important as the interference associated with such devices can cause serious problems for broadcasting, editorial and sound staff. We are considering the Revised Estimates for 2017 of the Public Expenditure and Reform Vote group. I welcome the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, and the Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with special responsibility for financial services, e-Government and public procurement, Deputy Eoghan Murphy. On 15 December 2016, the Dáil ordered that the following Revised Estimates be referred to this committee for consideration: Vote 11 - Public Expenditure and Reform, Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances, Vote 14 - State Laboratory, Vote 15 - Secret Service, Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service, Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office, Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman, and Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement. I welcome the Minister, the Minister of State and their accompanying officials. The purpose of today's meeting is to consider the Revised Estimates and the supplementary performance information regarding the outputs and impacts of programme expenditure. The 2017 total allocation for the Public Expenditure and Reform group of eight Votes is approximately €509 million. I invite the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, to make his opening statement.