Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

During a meeting with Professor Drumm earlier that week, it appeared the revenue allocated equated to the revenue spent and that there was a surplus of €56 million on the capital side. A day or two later, it emerged this may not be the case. As we know, Government accounting is extraordinarily complicated and the exact picture will not emerge until the final accounts are signed off by the end of March. The Minister for Finance said yesterday it now seems some €56 million of capital funding may well have been spent as revenue. He felt obliged to inform the House of this and was right to do so.

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