Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

What targets does the Taoiseach set for this team? Each year the Minister for Finance produces the public-private partnership target and announces how much money will be spent and at the end of the year we see how much has actually been spent. From memory, I would say the Government achieves approximately 20% of its target each year and therefore fails to the extent of 80%. How does the team explain away this consistent failure to achieve its central reason for its existence, namely, to co-ordinate work to deliver these targets?

Each year when we read the National Competitiveness Council's annual report, we see we are bottom of the league on port infrastructure, broadband infrastructure and in a host of other key infrastructural areas. What sort of score sheet does this team from the Taoiseach's Department keep to inform him as to how we rate compared to our competitors in these areas? If this sort of team is to have any sense, it must take a broad view and give the Taoiseach a picture of where we stand. Does it work to a score sheet or to a performance in terms of PPP delivery or does it simply just get on with the usual drudgery of its work and never report on these sorts of high level achievements?

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