Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It does not always happen, to put it mildly. The reasons vary from Department to Department. The most frequent issue relates to capital expenditure in December, which can sometimes be reliant on where we are in the planning or procurement process. With procurement in particular, sometimes things can happen in December that are genuinely outside the grasp of a Department. By that point it will have shifted into another budgetary year. Even if a Department has persistent capital underspend, it will always assure me that this year is different and that it will spend it all. Effort is put into all of these aspects to try to make a judgment call on where the Departments will end up at the end of the year.