This is the second occasion on which I have addressed the committee within a short period. We are probably going to see a great deal of each other in the future. I am looking forward to working with the committee.
The Vote for the Houses of the Oireachtas and the European Parliament provides for the salaries of Members, staff of political parties and staff of the office and expenses - travel, telephone, postal televising, office machinery, office premises, public relations, incidentals, etc. - of the Houses. It covers grants-in-aid for interparliamentary activities, the British-Irish Interparliamentary Body, the former Members' pension fund and salaries and pensions for Irish Members of the European Parliament. The 2002 Estimate is €77.101 million and the Supplementary required is €107,000. That gives a Revised Estimate of €77.208 million, which is an increase of 0.1%.
The need for a Supplementary Estimate arises as there have been substantial excesses on certain subheads, amounting to €4.224 million. Fortunately, it has been possible to offset these excesses with savings elsewhere on the Vote totalling €4.117 million. There remains a shortfall in the funding of €107,000.
Significant excesses arise first in respect of legal and other expenses relating to the sub-committees of inquiry. I refer to the inquiry into the Abbeylara incident and the mini-CTC investigation. These amounted to an estimated increase of €731,000. The second major excess arose as a result of the general election, when a higher than anticipated number of former Members were not returned. Between severance and termination payments and pension liabilities, the estimated increase is €1.866 million. At the outset, the normal attrition rate of approximately 40 Members was expected. Unfortunately for some and fortunately for others, myself included, 55 new Deputies were elected. The third excess arises from sanctioned adjustments to the secretarial assistance scheme, including the provision of additional assistance, amounting to an estimated €1.108 million.
The most significant estimated saving arises in subhead A5, which relates to office machinery and other office supplies, and amounts to €3.078 million. The primary reason for this saving is that certain IT related projects and the anticipated procurement of certain printing equipment did not proceed as planned. I understand that the explanations of these savings were circulated to Members yesterday afternoon and I am sure they have digested them.
The Supplementary Estimate could be regarded as being technical in nature. Even if it had been possible to balance the books and not have any excess arising on the overall figure, the Supplementary Estimate would still be required as a result of the excess on subhead G - pension fund. This subhead is a grant-in-aid and it is not possible to vire moneys into a grant-in-aid. I had to inquire about the meaning of the word "vire" and I was informed that it is a legal term which indicates that it is not possible to change funds within a grant-in-aid. Hence, there is a technical need for a Supplementary Estimate. Any excess arising must be notified to Dáil Éireann and approved by it.