Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)

She accuses me of getting involved in creative accounting by stating there is a €4 million surplus and yet she goes on about €112 million. In order not to confuse people — Deputy Burton is a member of the Committee of Public Accounts — the outturn for 2005 must be clear by 31 March when the CEO signs off on the accounts and presents them to the Comptroller and Auditor General. That would be the true picture but the CEO, to be cautious and prudent, stated on 17 January that this is what it looks like: a €57 million underspend on capital and a €53 million overspend on revenue. When one takes the overspend from the underspend, one still has a surplus of €4 million in the health system. That is not——

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