Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not saying it should be used. I am mentioning it in the context of the Minister's statements that we are about to run out of money. That is a nonsense statement for anybody to make when there is €30 billion in cash sitting in the bank account. I am not saying it should be used for these purposes. The Minister has said that if changes are needed as a result of the new discussions on how to save €300 million, he will be happy to be the first person to make such changes. He should have been doing that last week, this week and next week. The Minister or one of his Cabinet colleagues said yesterday that the 1 July date is not definitive as long as €300 million is saved this year. It will not be a big deal if the date is 1 August, as far as the Minister and the troika are concerned, as long as the figures are achieved. The 1 July date is not set in stone. The Minister should not rush these Estimates. It is an indictment of the way the Minister is doing his business that staff who are working today cannot be assured they will be paid on Friday morning. Similarly, the fact that this is the second time the new Department of Public Expenditure has had to seek extra money because it cannot pay its staff is an indictment of how that Department is being run.

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