Government has tabled details outlining why it spent $24.5 million more than estimated in last year?s budget.

New pay deals, overtime wages and increasing health costs were included in the overspend. Finance Minister Paula Cox told the House of Assembly the overtime budget at Bermuda International Airport came to $960,983.

Customs workers normally ?clock out? if there is a gap of more than four hours between landing times.

But Ms Cox, requesting an extra $490,000 for customs, said that the rising number of flights at the airport meant that staff were sometimes working anti-social hours of up to 16 hours a day. Several major drug seizures and knock-on investigations also led to more overtime costs.

She confirmed 66 new customs jobs will be created in a bid to curb overtime spending and to allow shift officers to return to a 35 hour working week.

Hiring new staff has started, and 20 recently recruited trainees are due to start work in May.

The Finance Minister announced that Customs officials and the Bermuda Public Services Union had agreed a flexible shift system, which she described as ?win-win? for both airport bosses and staff.

Under the new regime, Customs officers will work a three-week schedule including three long days, with most of the shift based on an eight-hour day.

However, she warned overtime could not be completely eliminated due to late flights and unplanned enforcement action such as dealing with drug traffickers.

Opposition Finance Minister Pat Gordon-Pamplin said it was important to balance work and family time, however she said that some workers used overtime to make ends meet.

Nearly $3.5 million was requested to pay for subsidised overseas hospital treatment for youngsters, students and seniors. A total of $1.5 million was set aside last year, but Ms Cox said it was estimated an extra $1.28 million would be needed just to cover last year?s claims.

A backlog of claims, some dating back to 1995, has started to be paid. And MPs heard that an estimated $2.2 million would be needed to tackle the large number of backdated claims submitted by insurers.

Education Minister Terry Lister, requesting an extra $3 million for his department, said half of this had been ploughed into CedarBridge Academy, Berkeley Institute and Sandys Secondary Middle School.

More than $1 million went to CedarBridge for repairs, new computers and a fire alarm upgrades. Mr. Lister also said that $250,000 was spent backing the policy of providing students with textbooks for school and home use.

The $2.5 million substitute teacher budget, which helps pay for sick staff cover, overshot by $500,000 and Mr. Lister said that this was always unpredictable to estimate.

Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell questioned whether school repairs and fire alarm upgrades could have been prioritised in advance.

He also questioned why $450,000 was spent on supply upgrades and on replacement computers damaged by power surges at CedarBridge ? and asked if this could have been saved by putting in a $12 surge protector.

Health Minister Patrice Minors requested an extra $4.5 million to pay for hospital costs. Total claims for outpatient care was due to be $2.2 million more than the $18.7 million set aside, while inpatient care was expected to be $2 million more than the $36.6 million budgeted last year.

She also asked for nearly $400,000 to cover an anticipated hike in dialysis treatment, as diabetes cases rise in Bermuda.

Shadow Health Minister Louise Jackson said she did not understand why Government was asking for less than last year. Mrs. Minors did not respond to a comment from Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin that supplementary estimates were supposed to be unforeseen but had now become ?the norm?.

Deputy Tourism Minister Michael Scott said that an $1.9 million extra was spent on advertising and promotion of Bermuda as a travel destination.

This related to the new Munich Air service from Germany, new daily flights from British Airways, Charter Air flights from Boston and New York and also on a three-year advertising contract with GlobalHue on a new overseas advertising campaign using radio, television and print media.

Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin asked how the advertising campaign would be judged a success and called for Government to provide a ?comfort blanket? for taxpayers on the issue. She said GlobalHue needed to be held accountable.

Mr. Scott replied that Government was ?not in the habit? of giving the Opposition comfort blankets and branded Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin?s questions ?idiotic?.

Amid fiery exchanges, Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton later stepped in and said that hotels were reporting increased bookings between April and October on the back of the campaign.

As already reported in , a supplementary estimate of $1.9 million was also requested as part of the four-year cash injection for the Bermuda cricket team ahead of the World Cup.

Ms Cox had told the House of Assembly that the total current programme expenditure in 2005/6 had been revised to $725 million from $711 million. This did not include capital projects.