Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)

Every Department faced a difficult budgetary outlook. No Department was exempt. What I and my Department had to do was to examine the various spending areas. The saving to which the Deputy referred is across a range of areas and is part of the reform programme, including various budgetary controls that have been established. It relates to a number of areas, which I can correspond with the Deputy on.

I had to be clear about the areas I wanted to protect. For example, there was a requirement for an extra €12 million in the area of early childhood care and education alone in order to meet the increased number of three and four year olds participating. I was pleased that I was able to protect that service. For other services, I will have to examine the possibility of reforming how they are delivered. I have already mentioned the budget for the youth sector; I am introducing reforms in this area which I believe will create efficiencies among organisations. In addition, I will be asking a range of organisations to examine how they spend their money, to carry out due diligence on their spending and to consider how they can deliver services in a more efficient way, including by working together and perhaps sharing services. We have seen that this is beginning to happen in other areas; for example, in the early childhood area, two major organisations have come together and are working effectively as a unit. We will certainly see more of that.

To answer the Deputy's question, I took a careful approach to the budget decisions. I wanted to ensure that priority areas were protected within the budgets over which I had control, and I believe we have achieved that. I would prefer not to have to make any of these decisions but, unfortunately, the national financial and economic situation demands it.

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