The Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin has confirmed that a staggering €1.6 billion of taxpayer money will be invested in a number of Government departments.
It is understood that the majority of the large sum will be given to the Departments of Health, Social Protection and Environment. The news comes after Mr Howlin recently revealed that a sum of €470 million from the fund has already been issued.
It is believed that the Department of Education got the largest amount of money receiving €175 million, whilst the Department of Transport received €100 million. Mr Howlin also revealed that a total of €35 million will be provided for the Gardaí.
Mr Howlin has said the large amounts of money is being spent because more taxes are being taken in. Mr Howlin told the Dáil the funding is in addition to continuing efforts to reduce the national deficit. He further explained: “It is absolutely prudent to keep a tight focus on reducing the deficit to 2.1% but at the same time, to respond to pressures in our economy to provide decent funding levels to health and other areas..educations and so on.”