Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 12 and 16 together.

The report of the special group on public service numbers and expenditure programmes recommended full year savings of €127 million in my Department's current expenditure provision. The proposed expenditure reductions included a saving of €2.9 million on administrative expenditure, pay and non-pay; a reduction of €36.2 million on roads and road related expenditure, including €20 million on road maintenance; and a saving of €68 million on public transport expenditure, including €55 million from operational efficiencies among the CIE companies. The balance of €20 million was accounted for by savings in aviation and cross-programme expenditure. The report also included recommendations on additional revenue raising measures such as asset disposal and road pricing, and proposed some organisational restructuring such as the merger of agencies and functions.

As part of the preparations for the budget, my Department submitted a list of possible savings options to the Department of Finance in early September which took account of the recommendations in the report. That submission also included a preliminary evaluation of the non-revenue reduction recommendations in the report. The Government is considering all the recommendations in the special group's report and decisions will be made by it in the context of the budget for 2010 and later years. To assist with the task, the Government has referred the report to the Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service for its views prior to the budget. These processes are ongoing and it would therefore be inappropriate for me to comment in advance of the deliberations being finalised.

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