John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept that there has been considerable ongoing change in the Civil Service and the public service. Some of that change has been forced on the organisations involved. Accordingly, I agree with some of what the Minister said. However, there is a significant amount with which I simply cannot agree. For example, the Minister spoke about public services anchored in outcomes for our people. If one looks at the outcomes for our people, I have to point the Minister to procurement, a debate which has gone on here for as long as I have been a Member of the House.

One of the issues regarding procurement is the ongoing complaint that small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, find themselves at a disadvantage because of the procurement process. Even in the construction of houses, when companies go through the tendering process, they will point out there are few construction companies which can point to a turnover of €8 million, €2 million or €10 million over the past several years because they were simply not in business. In turn, this excludes many smaller companies.

This morning I discovered that Kilkenny County Council gave out a large contract to a contractor. However, the contractor is paying a main subcontractor but all of the subcontractors to that main subcontractor are not being paid. We will witness a significant amount of money being lost to the SMEs in that area. I know we will never get to a perfect position but that is far from satisfactory.

In the context of the impact of what we do in the House on the people we represent, one need only look at the tracker mortgage issue. Last week, we had to take the unusual step of writing to the Minister regarding Permanent TSB because of the manner in which it conducted itself at a committee meeting and the way in which it is treating its customers. It was not my decision but one made by all members. Permanent TSB is a State-owned bank in which this type of behaviour is ongoing and we are having little satisfaction with it.

The other issue relative to that is that vulture funds are now purchasing large blocks of commercial and residential properties. The individuals involved have absolutely no protection. The Minister might point to the protection that travels with the loan from the originating bank and so forth. However, it does not happen that way. Again, there was cross-party commentary that it is just shocking to see how the vulture funds are behaving.

What I was hoping in terms of reform - members probably share this - is that in some way the vulture funds and their representatives that are regulated entities would be forced by legislation to come before committees of this House, especially this committee, because of the fact that they are ruining the lives of people and giving them no chance whatsoever, having themselves got the opportunity to rebuild their balance sheets because the taxpayer forked out €64 billion or some such amount in supports. My question on this part is whether the Minister will bring sufficient pressure to bear on the banks in which we have ownership to ensure they do not sell to vulture funds and that where loans are owned by vulture funds at least the regulated entities would be forced to come before the committee of this House? We have a report in draft form which we are sending to the Business Committee because we want all of this debated in the House and we are making arrangements for that to happen. It is a cross-party initiative to bring some sort of fair play into a market where people are blackguarded left, right and centre and they are looking to us for the answers.

Recently we passed legislation on water charges. I understand the agreement was that the Comptroller and Auditor General would hereafter audit Irish Water. Will we see such legislation come before us shortly?

A report was available on community banking. The committee is setting out to bring about a meeting of stakeholders here, including the Sparkassen bank from Germany. We will visit that organisation in due course. We want to know when the report will be available and what the Government's view is on the report.

The Minister mentioned the Top Level Appointments Commission, TLAC, and the other group in terms of overseeing the ongoing improvements. Is there any way he can tilt the balance in favour of independent oversight so that one gets people who are independent of Departments to look at matters? Too often in this House I have seen organisations examine themselves. They look internally so one does not get a clear, independent view. The time has come within the Civil Service and the public service to have such oversight.

In terms of the provision of services directly to the people we represent, we cannot stand over what is happening in the Garda and the HSE. Every time we ask about financial matters, in particular in those organisations, we are told that there are so many reporting systems rather than just one that they find it difficult to know what is happening.

We all saw on television the report that monitored maternity units in hospitals over five or ten years ago, yet it has taken us a significant amount of time to come to the point of publicly acknowledging it but not having a plan to deal with it. That reflects badly on the management of our systems. We have management within the HSE, the Prison Service and the Courts Service causing enormous pain for the people we represent. Those areas should be prioritised.

Finally, I wish to touch on the question of bullying within the Civil Service and the public service and protected disclosures. It is appalling how whistleblowers are treated within their organisations. I am not talking specifically about Maurice McCabe. I know many others. I know people within the education sector that are out on sick leave because they could not take any more, having made a protected disclosure. They are not offered the type of protection to which they are entitled under the legislation. When a protected disclosure is examined it is examined internally, so it could be the case that the very same people that have inflicted the bullying and harassment on an individual forced to make a protected disclosure examines it. As a result, the person is out of work and feels further isolated and vulnerable. The nurses and gardaí that are on the front line are amazing people. They are the Band-Aid that keep the organisations together and there seems to be little or no reform that the relevant Ministers can press through the system of governance down to that level which would give them greater protection in their workplace and a greater ease in carrying out the amazing work that they do.