Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

For reasons of transparency, competition and fairness, the Government cannot declare an intention to spend a certain sum on a public project and no more. We have to let the market decide what the State must invest to deliver a public project. A project may change or be expanded and other extraneous influences could add to the cost. We often encounter trouble in that regard. However, the Commission has consistently described Ireland as a model for the EU in terms of the way we have achieved value for money for funds distributed through the European Union. One of the projects which the Commission has analysed from an international perspective has been the fund for Northern Ireland which supports a number of other programmes, including the European Neighbourhood Policy and various other measures across the world. While a full report has not been produced, the Commission has indicated to the Department of Finance that it is more than pleased with the management of the funds in Northern Ireland in view of all the difficulties involved.