Publication of Estimates
Brady asked whether the Government had abandoned its undertaking to publish Estimates in September or October. Barrett said proposals were under consideration, including using a committee, as part of a broader review of the committee system.
I would like to ask the Minister of State whether he recalls an undertaking given to the House in 1982-83 that Estimates would be published in September-October and could I ask him if the Government have now abandoned those ambitions?
Comment on this
(Dún Laoghaire): The Government are at present looking at ways and means of having that matter dealt with in a constructive manner. We are looking at some proposals. One possibility is that we could use one of our committees to do that work. That is why it is important that, after a couple of years in operation, the whole of the committee system should be reviewed, and we could see where we could improve on the system and, hopefully, have a better system for the next Dáil.