Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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In his statement Dr. Healy suggested there is very little in the budget in terms of public investment. The spending in budget 2018 on public services and infrastructure increased by 4.5%, going from €1.5 billion to €1.8 billion. We have the M7 motorway, the new emergency department in University Hospital Limerick and the national indoor arena in Blanchardstown. Does Dr. Healy accept the fact more has been done in this budget? He has said there are modest improvements, but I suggest there is more than this considering the fact we must balance the books, the available fiscal space and the risk of overheating.

I want to ask Dr. Healy about his comments on the Department of Health and the anomalies he mentioned, including the €100 million outstanding expenditure with no provision for it to be carried forward in the 2018 allocation. He also said Social Justice Ireland has a critique and analysis of the budget, but we do not have a copy of it. Has Social Justice Ireland raised this issue with the Department of Finance? Has there been any response? Will Dr. Healy take the committee through the analysis of these figures and explain how this anomaly was discovered? How does Dr. Healy think the committee can help with regard to transparency?