Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

There may be a chance for members to come back in at the end if anybody wants to put a hand up. In the meantime, I will ask a couple of questions. I will ask a more general question about an issue on which we have touched a little. The question is perhaps more suitable for the principal officers responsible for particular Votes. My question relates to the negotiation between capital and current spending and how we place certain projects in certain categories. How do we decide whether we are going to categorise a particular project or programme as a current or capital spend? I am asking specifically about the Votes for which the representatives at this meeting are responsible. In the case of, for example, housing, we have in the past used social housing current expenditure to repay loans for approved housing bodies, AHBs, which will ultimately be a capital asset. We know that our water system is desperately in need of ongoing maintenance. How do we play that against larger capital projects in terms of upgrades?

In the case of transport, the Green Party is constantly saying that we do not need pristine, one-off projects. What we need is a joined-up system of good junctions for walking and protected cycle lanes. That relates more to ongoing maintenance. We could point to many areas within the health sector, possibly including all of Sláintecare.

My question for Ms Costello, Ms Callaghan and Mr. Deane is whether they provide advice or guidance in any way to Departments on whether a particular programme should be recorded as current or capital expenditure. When they do that, is consideration given to the impact that categorisation might have on that project? The categorisation may be the difference between a one-off capital cost and ongoing engagement through the budget. Perhaps Ms Costello will answer first.