Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

Perhaps what the Minister of State has said is based on his own experience in dealing with civil servants in the Department of Agriculture and Food over the years. In his reply he has confirmed the need for my amendment. In saying that civil servants acquire specialised skills as and when they need them, he has exposed a major flaw at the heart of how the Civil Service is organised. Surely the Civil Service requires specialised skills at all times. It also undermines the Government's obsession in seeking external so-called expertise to fulfil roles that could be played quite adequately by a properly resourced and skilled Civil Service. The Government is willing to use consultants at every opportunity to confirm its own prejudices, rather than having a proper thought out policy conducted through a properly structured Civil Service. In his response, the Minister of State confirmed a prejudice towards a properly resourced and fully functioning Civil Service that is at the heart of this Government. This Bill is not about reforming the Civil Service, but another chapter in an ideological free market approach to how the Government should be involved in services. If the Minister is not willing to examine the specialised skills we have in the Civil Service, those that we need and how we are to monitor them to improve quality, then I wonder if this Government believes in government as it is meant to be.

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