Has the Government got to grips with public spending as it said it would? Such is the bewildering swinging of money between one year and the next - and the changing definitions which different government's use - that it is hard to judge.

This year the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, brought no less than £400 million in spending due in 1998 into the 1997 figures. After this was done - and counting in the fall in debt service payments - day-today spending next year is set to rise by just 1.8 per cent ahead of this year.

However, this is not a fair reflection of the Government's control on spending. First, debt service payments are largely outside the Government's control and largely depend on interest rate trends. Taking this out of the equation, spending on the provision of services is due to rise by 4.1 per cent next year.

And then there is the shuffling of money from one year to the next. Much of this affects the central fund - the category mainly composed of national debt payments - and involves advance payments to An Post and Telecom pension funds and to the small savings fund. Flush exchequer finances are in effect being used to meet long-term liabilities and this seems fair enough.

However, two other manoeuvres are straight switches of money from one year to the next. These involve transfering £101 million in teachers' pay and payments of £68 million to local authorities.

If this spending is taken out of 1997 and put into 1998, then the annual rate of spending increase next year climbs to 7.4 per cent. With more to come on Budget day.

So the conclusion must be that Mr McCreevy and his Government colleagues still have some work to do to meet their commitment for firm control of spending.