Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

Yes but there is an ongoing audit. We do not just wait for someone to audit the system, we keep in touch with what is happening and where the budget is going and we manage it.

I made a political decision that in circumstances where there are difficulties, it makes sense to manage them internally at a time when other Departments might have their own difficulties. I said I would not ask the Department of Finance to sort this out, that I would manage it internally. That was easier because of two developments.

First, in answer to the Deputy's question as to the exact money involved, €10 million was allocated for the national broadband scheme but it was not due to be spent this year because it has taken slightly longer than we thought to set it up. There was also a knock-on effect on MANs and the budget was not exactly as it had been. There was an increase in expenditure so we had to review that. However, this was in no way a change of broadband policy. It was an example of using our budget wisely because those programmes are multi-annual, where spending does not necessarily occur in one year and long-term investment decisions are involved. The MANs is a long-term investment because, in the long run, fibre is the way this country will go. There will not be an immediate effect but I was faced with an immediate issue relating to payments for schools to install a boiler system or to lower income housing schemes that could benefit from proper grant insulation.

See this speech in context