Mr. Brendan Gleeson:

The €178 million does not represent an underspend. It is primarily made up of additional receipts. It is about the timing of receipts. It is a net figure for the Vote. The bulk of our receipts are related to the rural development programme and EU funding. Some €82 million that we had anticipated coming into the Vote in 2017 actually came in at the beginning of 2018. Similarly, our view was that a certain volume of receipts related to the rural development programme would arrive in 2019, but, in fact, they were received late in 2018. Therefore, the primary reason for the handing back of funding to the Exchequer was the arrival of additional receipts, not reduced expenditure. The difference between what we had programmed for and what we spent was about €40 million. That is the net figure for the Vote. It represents increased receipts, rather than reduced expenditure.