Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

Is there any mechanism for the cross-departmental team to report officially on the work it carries out? The report could be published at the end of the lifetime of this Dáil and it could outline what the committee has achieved and what it recommended. I presume the Taoiseach is the line manager, but does he have to make decisions on this area?

The Taoiseach talked about the success of PPPs, but there have also been failures. The Minister for Health and Children has attempted to improve radiotherapy services across the State by 2011, but reports have suggested that it may not be done until 2013 or 2014. Do such issues come back to the Taoiseach, or can the relevant Ministers deal with them? Do they make recommendations on continuing with PPPs or otherwise? Is there an all-Ireland aspect to the work of this committee? Eoin Reeves, director of privatisation and PPP research at the University of Limerick, said that the PPPs in Ireland have been unfavourable and untested.

What role does the committee have in this regard? Is it Government policy to roll out PPPs? Can the people on the committee make decisions on PPPs? In other groups, such as local councils, decisions cannot be made in committees unless they contain a senior representative and they are just talking shops.

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