Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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132. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the reason his Department has not spent €44 million allocated to it as shown in the end of May Exchequer returns; if he expects this underspend to be corrected by the end of the year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28035/13]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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At the beginning of each year, Departments are required to provide details of how they expect to spend their Vote allocations on a month by month basis. This is the profile against which subsequent expenditure is measured. Variations from the planned expenditure pattern can arise. €497 million has been allocated to Vote 27 for 2013. At the beginning of the year it was anticipated that cumulative expenditure under this Vote on Ireland’s aid programme would amount to €239 million by the end of May. The actual expenditure to that date was €195 million.

The nature of the aid programme makes it difficult to predict the precise spending pattern over a 12 month period. Variations from profile arise on occasions. However these are essentially timing differences and are corrected over the course of the year.

I am satisfied that the total allocation to my Department will be fully expended by the end of the year.