Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A key thing that this committee has to do is scrutinise policy positions prior to them being enacted. That is why, for example, the Department of Finance is releasing the tax strategy papers to us before the tax strategy is announced on budget day, and so on. The Minister is familiar with this. Let me put the question to him again. There is no doubt in my mind, or maybe he can tell me I am wrong, but that the Department has provided the Minister with a paper or a page to suggest from where efficiencies or savings can be gained within the public sector or within the public pay bill. I am asking the Minister, on behalf of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight, and I am not sure if members will endorse this request, to provide that to us in order that we can do our job and scrutinise what is now a budgetary measure. Will the Minister do that? There is no point in coming to us six months or three months down the road. Our job is to scrutinise in the here and now.