Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

The Minister indicated previously that there were between €70 million and €80 million of unspent Part V moneys among local authorities. I am glad the Minister has issued guidelines to local authorities on how to spend this money. The Minister has partly answered my question, but I ask him to clarify one point. The Minister intends to subtract Part V moneys brought in by local authorities from their capital allocations. The net outcome is that they will not be better off but there will be a line ball situation in terms of their Estimates for 2009 and beyond. Is that what the Minister is saying?

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