Vol. 556 No. 5
48 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the way in which the spending incurred by his Department to date in 2002 compares with the amounts allocated in the Book of Estimates; if he expects his Department to meet expenditure targets; if he anticipates cutbacks or adjustments in his Department; if so, the areas in which these will be made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20813/02]
Total departmental expenditure to the end of October 2002 is €1,142,139 and represents 81% of the Department's amended Revised Estimates allocation of €1,413,824 for this year. The latter figure is the original allocation of €1,496,194 in the 2002 Revised Book of Estimates, less the allocation of €82.37 million for functions transferred to other Departments in June 2002. The fact that many Department schemes are demand-led makes end of year projections difficult. However, I do not anticipate an over-run on the gross expenditure for 2002.
