John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. I also thank him, on behalf of my constituents, for his capable and prudent management of his responsibilities in respect of public expenditure. We all know the enormous resources that have been devoted to supporting people, their jobs and businesses over the past 15 months. There is not a constituency that has not been impacted positively. I have heard very positive feedback, particularly from businesses in relation to Government supports and how they helped them to survive.

Nonetheless, it would appear that many Departments have been spending significantly below profile in the period to the end of May 2021, as the Minister outlined. While I know that may appeal to the chartered accountant in the Minister, as will the way in which those underspent resources could be utilised in a positive way, what is the Minister's view of the underspend in areas such as health or social protection? Does he see any underlying reasons for it? Does he envisage those moneys being available at the end of the year or being expended by the end of the third and fourth quarters?

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