Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I do not want to kill the Christmas cheer but whoever is working in the department of spin is doing a good job in getting out the message that everything is perfect. The Minister of State referred to unified budgets and the announcement of spending and revenue, which is no harm. He stated also that the latest indication was that overall spending for 2007 will be within budget. That is an interesting point because in the past three years the Minister got the figures wrong with regard to revenue. At the time of the first budget of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, the Exchequer surplus was €1 billion, it was €2 billion at the time of his second budget and last year it was €3 billion. The Minister of State stated he will break even in terms of the figures but the days of budget surpluses are well and truly over. In fact, we are heading backwards to the days of massive Exchequer deficits. It is estimated that next year the Exchequer deficit could be up to €4 billion but if the ESRI is correct today, the Minister's figures are even more off target in terms of the €4 billion deficit. It appears the revenue will catch him next year, therefore, it is just as well he is getting the spending right.

The position is not as clear as set out by the Minister of State in his contribution. He stated there will be a capital carryover of €126 million from 2007 to 2008 but the Health Service Executive has an overrun on its budget of up to €450 million. Money continues to move around, in terms of day to day and capital spending, to balance the books at the end of the year. Budget control is still not happening in the public sector and the Minister must address that. The Minister of State painted a rosy picture but in reality that is not the position, especially in regard to the health services where the HSE is experiencing serious problems trying to maintain its budgets. The Minister will have serious problems maintaining his budgets also. His poor management of the public finances in recent years will be exposed when the Exchequer returns decrease dramatically in future years because the building boom that was such a cash pot for the Minister has dried up. The poor management will be exposed in regard to benchmarking payments and the pay awards.

Regarding the pay awards, Ministers intended to pay themselves substantial amounts of money. In that regard, the members of the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector were invited to come before the Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service but they replied that it was not appropriate for them to do so. I ask the Minister to ask the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance to contact the members of the review body and instruct them to present themselves to the committee and not decline the invitation offered to them for what at best can be described as spurious reasons. They do not want to explain to the committee the reason they recommended such outlandish awards, not just to Ministers but to the Judiciary and other senior public servants.