John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 447: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills the amount of unspent money returned by her Department to the Department of Finance each year since 2007; the departmental budget for each year since 2007; the projects for which this money was originally earmarked in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21779/10]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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At the end of each year this Department prepares a set of Annual Accounts known as the Appropriation Accounts, comparing the sums voted by Dáil Éireann under the Appropriation Act for that year (including the amount that could be used as appropriations-in-aid of expenditure) with the actual expenditure outturn for each subhead in Vote 26: Education & Science (Education & Skills with effect from 1 May 2010). In accordance with current statutory requirements these accounts are prepared on a "Cash" rather than an "Accruals" basis, meaning that any unspent monies on the Vote at 31 December must be surrendered to the Exchequer.

This Department monitors expenditure trends throughout the year. However, due to varying rates of progress on different schemes/projects on the Department's Vote, actual expenditure can differ from that originally estimated at the beginning of the year. In order to deal with this eventuality, and with the sanction of the Department of Finance, a process known as "Virement" is used to allow for savings on one or more subheads to be used to meet excesses on other subheads. In relation to 2007 and 2008, the information requested by the Deputy is contained in the Appropriation Accounts for those years. The 2009 Appropriation Accounts are currently being audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and will not be available until later in the year.

The tables contain the following: Summary Table of the 2007 and 2008 Appropriation Accounts along with the provisional Accounts for 2009; and Extracts from the 2007 and 2008 Appropriation Accounts containing the information sought by the Deputy.

* 2009 Figures are subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General