Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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I am just stepping in for the Cathaoirleach while he is out of the room. I thank Ms O'Loughlin for her statement. This is a very important document, which I have read with interest. I will ask questions first. The first thing that strikes me is that there is significant variation between the different Departments in terms of the quality of the information that is being produced. There are some very good examples. For instance, the Department of Social Protection looks at the poverty rates as being a key variable in measuring the effectiveness of social protection spending. If we compare that with the Department of Education, where we are just given basic statistics, these figures provide no real measure of educational outcomes for a Department with annual expenditure of €10 billion. That is completely unacceptable.

The housing performance-based information does not include a figure on unmet housing need or detail on whether that is being met. The information provided by the Department of Transport does not mention built rail or road infrastructure in any way either. What explains the variation in quality from Department to Department, and what role does the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform have in setting the performance-based indicators? Do Departments choose their own targets and benchmarks?