Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

That goes to the point that has been raised repeatedly with the Minister and at the Committee of Public Accounts, which is that we need the net figures. Aside from any value judgment one might make on the rights and wrongs of the process, including the effect it is having on the front line, it is entirely proper and legitimate that we are given the net figures. We have had to question individual Accounting Officers to try to get to the bottom of what the figures actually are. It is much more useful for us, as legislators involved in public policy, to have net figures. The Minister has a net target so he should be able to give us the net figures also.

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