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

The public will find this hard to understand. Spending is below profile but the Minister seems to be referring to the health spend as compared to last year. Has he taken on board the very serious criticism, for the second year running, from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, with regard to expenditure generally? The Minister's colleague, one of his predecessors, Deputy Noonan, said at a party meeting that there is no point in having a dog if it does not bark. Of course when he was a Minister during an earlier crisis years ago, Deputy Noonan said that the dogs bark but the caravan moves on. I am therefore not sure what Fine Gael's view of IFAC or of its prescription is. With regard to the three-year expenditure ceilings and the spending speed limits in respect of net policy spending, does the Minister intend to respond to the council's criticisms? Is he able to show that the budget he framed back in October was adequate to fund all of our Departments?

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