Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I think they are the calm figures the two financial Departments need leading them out, so the best of luck to them. We have every confidence that they will navigate us through the choppy waters that unfortunately still lie ahead for all of us globally.

I will start by speaking about a former Minister of this House. I listened to Eoghan Murphy's audiobook over the Easter holidays. I painted a few rooms of the house and listened to Running From Office as I was painting ceilings. It is an incredible book. One thing when you get halfway through it is that despite all of his ability, the Department and people pushing him to deliver more housing, he was frustrated by the lack of joined-up operations of Departments, funding belonging in silos and things not moving fluidly from one Department to the other. The greatest thing both Ministers could do with their Departments would be to get those synergies working, particularly in housing and healthcare. Each Minister can account in the Dáil Chamber for how their Department is doing, and how a particular spending programme is going well and another spending initiative is just taking off. This is not a criticism of the current Government; it is just that sometimes the Departments and the body politic work in silos. I would like to hear their views on that. Is there a way they can kickstart this better from the Departments of Finance and public expenditure?