I do not accept that the increase in public spending this year will be close to 10 per cent as the Deputy has suggested. The increase in gross non-capital supply services expenditure will be 6.9 per cent. This figure is provided for in the Revised Estimates for the Public Services which were recently published and includes the additional provision of £140 million towards the cost of meeting the entitlements of Irish women under the EU equal treatment directive. If these once-off exceptional payments were excluded, the increase in current supply services is 5.6 per cent which is within the 6 per cent limit imposed by the Government.
The increase of 6.9 per cent this year compares very favourably with the level of increase in gross current spending experienced over the past five years, including in particular the years 1991 and 1992 when the Deputy's party was in Government, when gross current spending increased by 10 per cent on average over those two years.
The Government's figures on public spending have been presented and published in a fully transparent manner and in precisely the same format as in previous years. There has been no attempt to conceal the true position or to resort to creative accounting in order to meet the demanding targets we have set for ourselves. We have clearly indicated the position on spending at all times and I reaffirm our commitment to ensure that current supply spending is kept to the limits we have set for ourselves in the programme. A Government of Renewal.