Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

No, I do not think the capital expenditures reviewed involved major projects but I must await sight of the report to confirm that. Incidentally, with regard to publication I should have stated to the Deputy that I will bring her views to the attention of my Government colleagues when we discuss the report. I take it the view of Fine Gael is also that it would be desirable to have publication.

With regard to the interaction between Secretaries General and Ministers and the process, members of the group were assisted by staff at my Department and they had many meetings with senior public servants. I know that in some cases Secretaries General briefed Ministers about the process. There is no question of Departments, agencies or bodies offering up expenditure. It is an independent critical evaluation of day to day expenditure across the board. In no sense was it like a routine Estimates process where Departments were set figures and told to offer up sums. Rather, it was an exercise of an independent evaluation of expenditure.

The Government is not necessarily committed to the report. It offers the Government and the political system realistic options on expenditure which will require to be evaluated.

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