Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I acknowledged at the opening of my Second Stage contribution that there will be a difficulty in managing a budget in the face of the current economic downturn we are experiencing, but will the House accept that a jackass could run the scheme if we are to simply let it run on and not be imaginative? What we should be trying to bring to this budgetary situation is a change in our thinking. Front loading can sometimes result in significant savings. If a group of accountants were running some of these Departments, would they be more effective? From an accounting perspective it would probably be more cost-effective and efficient to front-load some of these benefits, such as fuel allowance, to save on the other costs I described earlier, including hospital and other medical bills, and also the effect on education. I am acutely conscious that we do not want to burden the taxpayer unnecessarily by even a single cent. Obviously competitiveness and other factors are affected as a consequence. Those who qualify for fuel allowance are at the other end of the spectrum of poverty and deprivation. It is a missed opportunity.

The extra week per year will have an additional cost of €5.6 million to the Exchequer. I do not see any extra allocation. Where is the €5.6 million coming from? Is a saving made in the overall budget?

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