Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Recruitment from Asian and African communities is already in train. The answer I gave to the Deputy referred to new groups we are now targeting. That is new work under way in recent times on top of the work we have regarding Asian and African communities.

There is a 3% target in place across all Departments for the employment of citizens with disabilities. My Department has exceeded that target.

I have recommended in the national development plan that the current limit of 10% on the exposure of annual Exchequer allocations for PPPs should be replaced. I will be publishing further policy on this in the coming months.

I adopt a very careful attitude to the use of PPPs. I operate on a case-by-case basis. Any Department proposing to use PPPs to fund infrastructure has to be able to demonstrate to me and the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, that doing so would result in better value than having the Exchequer borrow the money directly. Therefore, the context in which PPPs are now being used has changed by comparison with a number of years ago. There are clear criteria that Departments have to meet. I will be supporting and implementing PPPs only on a case-by-case basis.

With regard to what the Deputy said about the outsourcing of audit services, I am not familiar with the specific service referred to but I will obtain more information on it. I would imagine from having dealt with such matters in the past that an audit service of the kind in question would proceed to public procurement only if it related to an area of specialised auditing that was felt could best be done by an outside company or body, or if we did not have the capacity to do the work. From my experience of dealing with this across a variety of Departments, I am aware that all Departments, including mine, and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General have very significant audit facilities in place.

I will have to get a copy of the particular map the Deputy is referring to. Maps I have seen, particularly in respect of transport projects that are identified, refer to both the south east and south west.

With regard to the public services card, I take the Deputy's point. It is true that the use of the card to help senior citizens to gain access to their free travel entitlements has been a real success. As I said on a number of occasions, I expect that as the card is rolled out for new services, Departments will exercise the right amount of flexibility in making it work for individual citizens. Later in the year, we will be announcing a number of assist initiatives to try to help in this regard. I do not want the rolling out of the card to create a new digital divide.