Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

A bitter taste has been left for many, since the Government has not confronted reform. We have had neither a serious expenditure review process nor Estimates based on measurable performance targets. We have had Estimates with no programme evaluation. Multi-million euro projects are committed to without any scrutiny.

Those are not the arcane concerns of someone with a sharp pencil and a calculator, as the Tánaiste described me. Things might be better if those on the Government benches had a sharp pencil and used it in some other creative way. That way, we might have achieved value for money. All the Government's big announcements and ambitions, such as decentralisation, e-voting, zero tolerance and zero waiting lists, have failed for one reason — it has failed to recognise that reform is not about courting the flash bulbs or finding the best soundbite to impress a focus group. Rather it is about long hours, planning, persuading, evaluating options, testing performance, responding to shortcomings, trying again, changing work practices, and taking responsibility for failures. It is about hard work, making decisions and relentless commitment to implementation.

That is what has been so lacking from the Government, whose thinking has been dominated by the celebrity appearance rather than the serious job of reform. The greatest threat to this country's economic progress is the arrogant swagger of a Government that thinks itself invincible and irreplaceable. It is so intoxicated with its own rhetoric that it fails to recognise the serious challenges approaching. So much tax revenue over so many years represents a wasted opportunity. There have been too many dud and pet projects and white elephants. There have been too few competent Ministers driven by reform or a desire to deliver front-line services. The fear is that the Ministers' political epitaph at the end of this year will be that they were a bunch of wasters.

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