Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 192: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the amount of her Department's budgetary allocation for 2004; the amount of this allocation which was returned to the Department of Finance at year's end; the Vote head from which such returned allocations were derived; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23973/05]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Department of Health and Children Vote for 2004, both current and capital, was €8,664.272 million. The total surplus surrendered for the year was €70.948 million. The amount of the surplus arising from the receipt of appropriations-in-aid, subhead K, in excess of the voted sum was €60.761 million. Under public financial procedures, any sums received over and above the amount voted by the Dáil for appropriations-in-aid must be surrendered at year end to the Exchequer.

Of the remaining surplus of €10.187 million, €1.84 million was due to savings on administrative budget subheads as follows: subhead A5 — office machinery and other office supplies, €0.85 million; and subhead A7 — consultancy services, €0.99 million. Under the terms of the administrative budget agreement, savings in one year may be carried forward to the following year with Department of Finance approval, which was obtained.

The residual surplus of €8.347 million arose on the following subheads of the Department's Vote, due to timing issues in respect of a number of minor headings, including the cost of the hepatitis C and HIV compensation tribunal and payments to the State Claims Agency for the clinical indemnity scheme.