Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The expenditure ceilings have been significantly exceeded. Last year, for example, the figure for current expenditure was €57 billion but outturn was almost €63 billion. It would appear that despite the best of intentions in setting these ceilings, they are consistently not met in many areas and there are no repercussions or changes in how they are dealt with thereafter. Yesterday, the Minister indicated he wanted to put in place departmental expenditure benchmarks. I would like him to elaborate on that statement. Is this in response to the fact that some Departments consistently exceed their ceilings with no obvious repercussions or mechanism to arrest the process? There are no consequences because of the windfall in corporation tax receipts.

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