Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Perhaps I should not speak for all my colleagues, but I do not think anybody in this room disagrees with the idea of refunding. Sinn Féin's argument is that these issues should have been budgeted for prudently so that we do not have to look for savings or underspends, which are natural within Departments, in order to facilitate a major refund. The level of spending in the Department of Children and Youth Affairs is €39 million under profile. The equivalent figures for the Departments of Education and Skills and Health are €29 million and €21 million, respectively. Can the Minister give this committee the details of the circumstances in each Department that is under profile? He mentioned a project that has resulted in a saving of €21 million. Is it the case that this project was expected to start in the first half of the year but is now going to start in the second half of the year? If so, the money will not be available. I am sure the Minister does not have those statistics to hand. Perhaps he can provide a detailed submission to this committee explaining why the level of spending is under profile in the case of each ministerial Vote groups.