Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The allocations, of approximately €8 million, €4 million and €6 million, total €18 million over three years. I am glad the Minister raised the issue of the general Government balance because when the Bill was going through the House and in parliamentary questions since its passage, I asked him whether he intended to change the law so that there would not be a liability on the State for all of this money. This year, again, the money coming in exceeds the disbursements. I ask again, therefore, if it is the Minister's intention to free up this money by making a simple change to the law. Such a change would provide that only the reserves and the money coming in are a liability for the State and that all of the other moneys, back to the point at which the dormant accounts process started, would not continue to be a liability for the Exchequer. If the Minister made that simple change, he would be able to free up €100 million.

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