Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The Minister for Finance has outlined the budgetary position and one of the issues that affects us more pertinently in respect of the last part of Deputy Gilmore's question is the weakness of sterling vis-À-vis the euro. This concern continues. The programme for Government runs over a five year period. I have indicated its parameters. Part of the programme for Government refers to the need to have a responsible overall budgetary position so we can try, on a sustainable basis, to implement any commitments in it. All those commitments are conditional on achieving that because without it, the commitments cannot be achieved. Everybody has signed up to that. That is a continual budgetary challenge for Government.

The aspects of departmental activity getting priority are available in the departmental Estimates available to all Members of the House. They can be debated on Committee Stage or in plenary debate here on any aspect of public policy. Under the budgetary reforms I introduced, output statements are required in which Ministers must indicate the outcomes of the expenditure as envisaged during the year, what was done, what was not done and the reasons for any delays etc. All that information is available and it indicates the priorities the Government is attending to in the context of the more difficult situation we face.

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