Mr. Michael Casey:

Not accounting surpluses. Universities have always been obliged to operate on a break-even basis. It may have been the case that the cashflow position improved during the years. I return to the point I made. In the context of accounting reserves, there is no spare money sloshing around. The sector has absorbed a number of cuts during the past four years. Approximately €150 million in Exchequer funding has been removed from the university sector alone. This has been offset to some extent by non-Exchequer income, but universities have still absorbed a real cut of €50 million in the past four years.