Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

As I was explaining to the Deputy, at the beginning of every budgetary process a bilateral meeting takes place between individual Ministers and the Minister for Finance. The Minister for Finance will have obtained from Government broad agreement on the parameters of the budgetary strategy, based on the macro-economic forecasts and whatever other issues he can bring to the table as to what needs to be done. Once this is achieved, the parameters are set and separate bilateral meetings take place between the Minister for Finance and individual Ministers. In respect of every departmental Estimate there are officials in the Department of Finance who work on those issues all the time and they are the contact for officials from, for example, the Department of Education and Science, on issues of general administration. They discuss the questions and a political discussion takes place between Ministers and officials on both sides. In so far as agreement can be reached on the proposed Estimate, then agreement is reached. Subsequently all these Estimates, once agreed, are put to Cabinet where they are agreed, adopted and published. If there are further political decisions that need to be made to take account of the broad economic situation, or of any proposals from the Minister for Finance for budgetary measures or initiatives, these are also decided at Cabinet. Taxation matters are the preserve of the Minister for Finance and this is how the budget works.

The Deputy suggests there is a lack of commitment on the part of Government, for example, with regard to special needs education. This Government has seen greater improvements in special needs education and quite rightly so because of the increased resources we were able to provide due to the success of our economic policies. Adjustments now have to be made but there are thousands of special needs assistants in situ today who were not there before we came into office and there are thousands of extra teachers, thousands of new classrooms, thousands and millions of euro worth of new equipment -----

See this speech in context