Vol. 555 No. 2
402 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government 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. [18414/02]
Based on the gross annual allocation for the Department of the Environment and Local Government as set out in the publication 2002 Revised Estimates for Public Services, the remaining provisions for current and capital expenditure for the last quarter of the current year are €145,235,000 and €1,043,692,000, respectively. The gross outturn figures for the last quarter of 2001 were €291,917,000 and €1,016,287,000, respectively.
403 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government 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. [18421/02]
The 2002 spend in respect of my Department as it is now constituted is broadly consistent with the relevant profiles of expenditure which were drawn up in accordance with the provisions of the 2002 Revised Estimates for Public Services.
An excess of some €50 million for recoupment to local authorities in respect of accommodation for homeless persons, including asylum seekers, will be offset by savings in a range of other programmes. These programmes are likely to include regeneration of local authority housing areas, non-national roads, waste management and urban renewal grants where for various reasons it would not be feasible to expend the relevant estimates provision in full.
404 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government 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. [18428/02]
There is no single specific index or deflator which is applicable to my Department's spending, the greater part of which is incurred on capital programmes for construction projects.
My Department's publication, Construction Industry: Review 2001, Outlook 2002-2004, shows inflation in the construction industry running at 9.3% in 2001 with a projected figure of 4.9% for 2002.
