Vol. 555 No. 2
239 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the amount of money that remains available to his Department from the voted spending allocation agreed in the Revised Estimates 2002, to spend in the last quarter of 2002 for capital spending and for current spending; and the way in which this compares with the amount spent for current and for capital purposes in the last quarter of 2001. [18410/02]
240 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the adjustments which he plans to introduce in the last quarter of 2002 in order to bring the overall spending for the year in line with the moneys provided in the Estimates. [18417/02]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 239 and 240, together.
Net expenditure by my Department to the end of September 2002 for current and capital purposes is €3,211 million and €329 million, respectively. The corresponding figures for 2001 were €2,748 million for current expenditure and €280 million for capital expenditure.
The balances remaining in 2002, based on the Revised Estimates for 2002 are €1,375 million for current and €279 million for capital. The corresponding figures for 2001 were €1,434 million and €271 million.
The year-on-year increase of 16.9% to the end of September is broadly in line with the expenditure profile for September 2002 and the position in relation to expenditure in the last quarter is being monitored closely.
241 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science his estimate of the average index of inflation between the last quarter of 2001 and the last quarter of 2002 in the cost of employment goods and services which make up his Department's expenditure. [18424/02]
The indices of inflation available to my Department from the Central Statistics Office cover the period up to the end of September 2002. They do not provide forecasts for the last quarter of 2002. The annual rate of inflation for the period ending 30 September 2002 is 4.5%.
