Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Harrington asked whether I found any resistance to this process of scrutinising outputs and applying a measurement of outputs to the work of the Department. I assure the Deputy that I have encountered no resistance at all. In fact, on the contrary, I have found that for the officials I work with in the Department, who are very professional people, it actually enhances their own sense of satisfaction and progress on the various areas of work with which they are involved that they would be part of a better regime of outputs scrutiny. I have found, without exception, that the officials in my Department who are working so hard on issues like broadband, for example, welcome the idea of closer scrutiny and debate, having regard to the measurability of some of the work in which they are involved. Some of the work with which we are involved is not measurable on a day-to-day basis but is measurable in a broader context, as we have been discussing. To the extent that we can improve the way we measure these things, that will not just improve and enhance the work of this committee but also of my Department and officials therein.

On the figures in head A3, the Deputy asked whether the figures given in the Estimates are, themselves, detailed enough. My view is that the more detail we can give to the Oireachtas and the public, the better. These are the Estimates in the form in which they are prepared, in terms of areas like post code, schools broadband, MANs phase one and two and so forth. These are the amounts that are set out in the Estimates. If there are questions about how they are broken down and so on, we can deal with those issues in terms of the adequacy of the numbers themselves but on the general question of outputs, this constitutes very significant progress in terms of public policy. We very much support the approach being taken by the committee. If I can get more detail for members at any stage, whether it is on the individual figures in A3 or anything else, I will do my utmost to do so.

I am conscious that the other issues that were raised by members all touch on substantive areas within the brief. I will be directed by the Chairman as to when I should respond to those.