Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Mark Cassidy, who is the chief statistician with the Central Bank, expressed surprise at yesterday's meeting of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight that in budget 2019, the Minister did not budget for a significant surplus as a cushion, given that we knew we were heading into some kind of Brexit and perhaps - hopefully not - a cliff-edge Brexit. Those of us who are interested in finance have had a chance to look at the European semester report, which acknowledges that the economy is continuing to strengthen but notes that the improvements in the budget balance are stalling. Most of all, we have had a continual history of under-forecasting. I am thinking particularly of the disastrous management of the national children's hospital. As I mentioned recently, I have been reading the Minister's management committee notes on risk factors. Given that these facts and issues are coming together, is the Department of Finance carefully managing expected expenditures or unknown expenditures this year?

See this speech in context