Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his comment on the transfer of the community function. Although we will not have responsibility for the new Department there may be a role for this committee to invite in the Minister, Deputy Ring, maybe once a year or so, to discuss the management of those elements. The only reason I am saying this is since the restructuring of the old community development programmes from Pobal by the former Minister, Commissioner Phil Hogan, they are much more integrated into the local authority structure and policy.

We had a very interesting discussion here yesterday about rates. Part of the difficulty with rates is that they are split between two Departments, Housing, Planning and Local Government and Justice and Equality. When we are trying to discuss policy and potential reform that creates some difficulty. I am concerned that the case might be similar here. That might be something we could address.

While I am aware the sources of the funding referred to derive from revenue, what we would like to know is what part of the revenue pot they come from. Clearly, there were areas of underspend in the Estimates that were allocated for the Departments this year. It would be good to identify those elements of underspend that allowed the Government to transfer this money across to deal with the water situation. I am not objecting to the transfer but clarity is needed.