Edward Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

We speak about tariffs, and the line we have often spouted is that we control what we can control. Many things are outside of control. The biggest thing as regards our economy and our income is expenditure. We have a lot of control over our spending. The Minister answered my question on measures to improve cost control. They are all very worthy, but we need to do a lot more work in this area. It is monumental. We are speaking about cultural change in the country in how the public service operates as regards controlling spending. Even if we make small incremental changes, we need to drill down more to find better ways of saving money and getting people to think more about saving money. I know this is an easy generalisation, but we should provide incentives.

I was a member of the Wicklow County Council audit committee for about 15 years. I remember going to National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, conferences once or twice. NOAC is a very worthy body that does benchmarking of the various county councils for expenditure and outputs. When I was there three or four years ago, there was not one person out of ten on the board who had any accounting or cost control experience. This should have been part of that body's modus operandi given its role when it comes to controlling costs. There should be more people on State boards with this type of focus and experience. Does the Minister have thoughts on this?