Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This was during my arrival but I was informed. As the ceiling of 9,500 was not being achieved, the perspective of the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform was that the current budget should go to fund the existing numbers. If that was to be exceeded, it could be funded up to the ceiling of 9,500. In 2023 the Department was funded for 8,600. Prior that it would have been funded for 9,500. However, the money was then vired for capital. The Department did not lose it. It was used for capital purposes, given that it would not be used for current purposes in the sense that it would have been surplus because you would not have had the numbers.