Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

We will continue to cover the house of tomorrow schemes and, at the same time, continue the national broadband scheme because the majority of the expenditure will occur in 2008 rather than 2007 and that allows us to prudently manage our affairs to meet budget lines.

Deputy Coveney asked why the situation was changing. It is because we are dealing with the Irish public. These were demand-led schemes for which we could not predict the exact amount.

See this speech in context