I thank the committee for its co-operation in taking this Supplementary Estimate. The Supplementary Estimate arises on Vote 6 - Office of the Minister for Finance, and is required to facilitate a settlement to a litigation case taken by 46 plaintiffs who claimed compensation for loss resulting from advice on pensions given to them in 1976 by the Agricultural Credit Corporation, ACC. Under an indemnity provided as part of the ACC sale agreement the Minister for Finance is obliged, subject to the approval of the funding by the Dáil, to cover the cost of this outstanding litigation.
The settlement agreement with the 46 plaintiffs was concluded on a confidential basis in July this year and results in a total liability for the Minister for Finance of approximately €3.491 million, taking into account the ACC's legal costs. The Minister for Finance's legal advisors, A&L Goodbody, and senior counsel have advised that the proposed settlement represents a good commercial solution that he should accept and that the settlement compares favourably with the possible outcomes at trial.
I seek approval of a token Supplementary Estimate of €1,000 to enable the transfer of €3.491 million to subhead B, expenses arising from the sale of ACC Bank, from savings under other subheads. The funds to provide for the additional €3.491 million come from savings that the Department of Finance has identified across a number of other subheads
Subhead E, which pertains to Ordnance Survey Ireland, OSI, provides for a contribution towards the general expenses of that organisation. In 2007, savings of €1.5 million are expected because of a combination of stronger than expected commercial receipts and slightly slower expenditure on a number of capital projects due to timing factors. OSI continues to invest in new technologies to provide customers with spatial data which is up to date, accurate and relevant to their needs.
Subhead I provides for expenditure by the Centre for Management and Organisational Development, CMOD, in the Department of Finance for work undertaken on behalf of other Civil Service Departments and offices. Savings in 2007 arose as a result of a number of factors. These include: €210,000 that had been allocated for identity management for hardware, software and solution development procurement, which was not required because a more incremental approach than previously planned was adopted; €290,000 that was saved on Government networks following a favourable renegotiation of tariffs in contracts; and €500,000 that was intended for finishing projects previously funded under the IS fund but which was not spent as Departments and offices made their own administrative arrangements to deal with continuing development work.
Subhead N1 provides for the PEACE and INTERREG programmes. The Department of Finance co-funds INTERREG IIIA under the integrated local developments strategy priority of the programme. This comprises business and economic development, the knowledge economy and training. The Department provides funding to the special EU programmes body, SEUPB, for onward transmission to business-related projects such as business incubation units, business networks, grassroots media enterprises and projects to support tourism. All of the funds allocated to these measures have been committed and savings identified by the Department of Finance are purely as a result of timing issues. Any shortfall will be made up during 2008. The Department of Finance has been informed by the SEUPB that this will not result in a loss of co-funding to the programme from the European Commission.
I thank members for their co-operation. If there are questions, I will do my best to answer them.