Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 203: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the protocols in place for the Health Service Executive and the circumstances under which the HSE can divert voted Oireachtas moneys for the provision of a specific health service to another health service; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20616/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
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The Revised Estimates Volume sets out a formal description of the services to be financed from each Vote and sets out the gross provision by subhead. The subheads of a Vote set out the detailed allocations of all the expenditure on programmes and services within the ambit of the Vote, and are the headings under which a Department or Office is required to account for the expenditure in its Appropriation Account.

If, after publication of the Revised Estimates Volume, factors emerge to change the amount of the requisite grant before it has been voted, the Estimate may be withdrawn and replaced by a Further Revised Estimate.

In accordance with Public Financial Procedures allocations may be transferred between subheads with the approval of the Department of Finance, by a process known as 'virement'. This allows savings in one area to be compensated for by higher than anticipated spending in another, and can include viring between capital and revenue. Sanction for important changes is not given unless the prior approval of the Committee of Public Accounts has been obtained by the Department of Finance.

Where the changes proposed are substantial a Supplementary Estimate may also be used by the Department of Finance to secure Dáil approval to switch money from one particular service to another within a Vote.

These protocols apply to the HSE Vote 40 in the same way as they apply to other Votes.