Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

What process is used within the Department to determine savings or cuts when such decisions are being considered? We have seen a series of cuts across Departments and the public service, many of them unacceptable, certainly to Opposition voices and to many Government backbenchers. Some of these decisions have had a negative effect on the public's opinion of politics as a whole, such as the HPV vaccine programme and the cuts in special needs education. What process is used to make determinations? Does the Secretary General of the Department highlight possible cuts and does the Taoiseach, as head of the Department, make the final determination? Is the practice the same in other Departments or is the overall budget cut and then it is left to the individual Minister to determine how the Department's spending will fit into the overall sum allocated? Can the Taoiseach give us a sense of how this process works? Is the Cabinet involved in this respect? Is there detail on these proposals? Does the matter go to the Cabinet for a final decision to be taken on it? Is it a collective decision of the Cabinet or is it left to the Taoiseach's Department and other Departments to make these at times alarming decisions?

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