Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I agree with those sentiments. Prior to summer the Committee of Public Accounts asked me to prepare a report on this issue. I did so and all parties represented on the committee approved that report, which provided for better parliamentary oversight of the Estimates process and made specific recommendations which, with one or two minor changes, the committee as a whole was happy to endorse. I would like to think the Taoiseach would give some indication before budget day that he is prepared to examine the way we do business because we end up in this House approving Estimates after the money is spent. The report of the Committee of Public Accounts sets out a format whereby one can collapse the publication of the Book of Estimates and budget into a single event and provide for better parliamentary scrutiny of Estimates that currently are entirely opaque and impenetrable.

There is one table in the report that traces the amount of time given in the current calendar year to scrutiny of the Estimates for each of the 15 Departments. It amounts to approximately one hour and three quarters to approve approximately €44 billion for the 15 Departments. That is the total amount of time given to examining the Estimates and elements of them. It is about time we examined this process.

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