Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I will go back to Deputy Farrell's question on the Brexit adjustment reserve fund before I respond to the question she has just put to me. In terms of spending to date on it, provision has been made in budgets 2022 and 2023 for Brexit mitigation projects which will be included in the final BAR claim. These amount to €390 million overall, and further allocations will also be required in 2023 in respect of spending for developments in Rosslare Europort. What I refer to there in particular is the kind of change that might happen to upgrade the infrastructure to ensure that we can better meet the customs sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, checks and control needs that will require to be delivered at the port for UK goods traffic. It is €390 million overall. I will come back to the Deputy and the committee with further detail on that spend, and any spend that we might accrue in 2023 with regard to BAR funds.

To go back to the point the Deputy put to me a moment ago, where we do differ is the very large amounts of money to which she referred to which the State would potentially be liable if it looked to fulfil an obligation which the Oireachtas did not legislate for. The cost commitments, which were created in this area, were as a result of successive Acts of the Oireachtas and the additional potential liability on which we differ, as is made clear in the Attorney General's report, which is at issue, are rights for which the Oireachtas did not legislate and the State did not create the expectation that we would be able to fulfil.

The broad point she makes regarding the trade-offs that exist between the management of public expenditure and the reform agenda of the Department is a very fair one.

It is frequently the case that to realise more medium-term benefits through spending now and to recoup benefits tomorrow through reforms, claims and legitimate needs like that can face stronger competing claims from how we meet the needs of today and fund urgent needs in our existing public services. For this reason, the Department looks to maintain an overall reform agenda, particularly within the public service, with regard to the digital transition, modern HR practices and procurement reform, to try to ensure there is a central impetus in the reform agenda of Government.