Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

People will obviously pay for convenience but it is a very serious charge that is being levied against them. It is an issue that will arise repeatedly.

The public-private partnership sector has been allocated several billion euro. It is very complex and costly to tender for the major road projects planned for the next 20 years under public-private partnership. If a contractor applies but is unsuccessful, he is unlikely to want to tender again because of the cost. This means a small cartel of companies with the capacity and money to tender for PPP projects will inevitably develop and prices will rise as a consequence. I suggest reviewing the PPP system to find some mechanism whereby those who tender unsuccessfully are not eliminated from future schemes so that competition remains in the system. Otherwise an inbuilt cartel will operate whereby the price of infrastructure, especially road infrastructure, will escalate.

The metro to Dublin Airport was to be built by 2007. I understand the rockbreaker sank below the design level in the tunnel several times because the geological reports were inaccurate. Instead of going through rock it went through something much softer. I understand a substantial claim arises as a consequence. The financial position of Aer Lingus has not been addressed, although a report is due shortly.

We have not seen the end of the accident and emergency debacle. The trolley watch shows today there are 375 beds in hospital corridors. Hospital beds were to be increased by 650 at the end of 2002.

A number of tax incentives have been closed off, which was due to happen anyway, meaning that investors will now be encouraged to get into the private medical area, meaning that health becomes a commercial commodity instead of a public service. There should be an analysis of the cost of a bed in a public hospital delivered through the normal system compared with one in the 20% of beds to be delivered in the private sector.

The decentralisation programme has become a complete and utter shambles. I have supported the decentralisation programme for many years. Many towns in provincial Ireland are to be beneficiaries of the programme but not in the way it is being carried out. How does the Government account for the situation where the Equality Authority, which addressed the Fine Gael parliamentary party recently, states that of its 53 members, none had applied for transfer to Roscrea? This is replicated in a number of areas throughout the country. If it continues, it will destroy the public service by forcing people into new positions for which they are not trained and will break the long memory connection of the public service. People will end up doing nothing in other Departments where they did not want to move in the first place.

The headage section in Michael Davitt House in Castlebar ran out of work because the scheme ended. The employees were offered jobs in the PULSE section of the Garda Síochána on three eight-hour shifts, which is unsuitable for young married women with children among others, or a relocation to Portlaoise. Those who still do not want to go will be moved out of their offices in the next few days into empty accommodation to persuade them to accept the offer.

The Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Parlon, appears to have doctored, at public expense and in his own interests, the results of a radio poll in the midlands which resulted in findings that 94% of listeners said decentralisation as it was progressing was a great thing. It is a shambles and I am not sure how the Government proposes to address it. The Minister for Finance does not use the same terms in the Budget Statement as the former Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, who said he would move 10,000 civil servants in a voluntary capacity within three years. That wording has disappeared into the ether. When people knock on houses in Dublin, they find that many civil servants have no intention of moving and the Minister responsible must provide an explanation. Many Departments where people do not want to move will not move. It will either destroy the public service or Departments will have to train people for jobs they have no experience of, thus damaging the quality of the public service.

The Travers report pointed out that reform of the public service is inadequate and that spending money will not bring results without fundamental change. The next election will be very important and will have great consequences for this country. How a nation manages good fortune and success and the problems associated with it is as important as how it manages in adversity. Can we work with our wealth in such times?

The Fine Gael and Labour parties will see to it that our prosperity is maintained and, with a new vision for Government, a new sense of responsibility and a strong spirit of community, we will build an Ireland that fulfils its promise. The vital Irish centre is alive and well. We will use a strong economy to make our streets safer and our hospitals better. Our strategy will meet Ireland's challenges and protect Irish values. There has been a big splash and much spin and propaganda about yesterday's budget, delivered from the biggest war chest there has ever been. This war chest exists not because of Ministers such as Deputy O'Dea, Deputy Martin or Deputy Cullen, but because of the work of the people.

Everything that is wrong with this Government is epitomised by today's unfortunate demise of the former Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Callely. There has been a litany of such episodes in the past nine years to illustrate what is wrong at the heart of this Government. When people get their chance, they will cast their verdict and throw it out of power.

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