Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

Listening to the Minister's opening address on the motion, I began to wonder whether I was living in the same country as I was in April and May of this same year. Prior to the general election we can recall that anyone who dared to talk about the economy, particularly the Opposition which endeavoured to give accurate information to the public about the delicate line we were walking because of our major dependency on the construction industry, was accused of engaging in sabotage. I have heard it again today. Anybody who criticises the manner in which the economy has been managed over the past ten years in the House is unpatriotic according to Government Members. Unfortunately, the truth is out and the days of waste and irresponsible government are staring us all in the face. In case Deputy O'Connor or anybody else thinks I exaggerate, I refer to the latest edition of the Sunday Independent, which is not anti-Government. Under the headline "Cases of Government Failures and Mismanagement", the newspaper listed the various projects that have cost the taxpayer billions. For example, it highlighted unplanned spending of €150 million on the Dublin Port tunnel and €3.25 billion on the roads programme. A sum of €52 million was spent on e-voting machines, which are still in storage. The Government fails to understand that they will never be used, yet, as taxpayers, we are paying vast sums to store these God damn machines. It is about time hard decisions were taken. The Government should not engage in cutting services without carrying out a proper audit of spending and questioning the number of quangos built up in recent years.

The Book of Estimates provides for €58 billion in spending and a 1% saving is equivalent to €580 million. I refer to the administration subhead in the health Vote. Through a parliamentary question, I discovered that the Department of Health and Children employs 593 people, despite the fact that the HSE has taken over the running of the health service. The salaries of staff in the Department amount to €37 million this year, which equates to €69,000 per year per individual. However, under subhead A8, €50,000 is provided for value for money and policy reviews while incidental expenses in the same Vote amount to €2.6 million. These commitments are supposed to provide value for money to the public.

Anybody who merged 11 health boards without a plan for a proper management structure in the private sector would not be long in business. If 11 companies were brought together under one umbrella, one would first carry out a study to make sure a proper management structure was in place. Prior to the election the Minister for Health and Children denied categorically there were proposals for redundancies in the HSE. Subsequently, we learned from a leaked memorandum that provision was being made for 1,000 redundancies. It also recently emerged a study is being carried out on the management structure needed in the organisation. However, the unfortunate taxpayer who depends on these services suffers while all this is happening. I make no apology for highlighting that before services are cut, it is urgent and necessary to carry out a complete audit on the number of quangos and on what people do in the public service.

I refer to the education Estimate. There is a crisis in the provision of primary and post-primary school buildings. Anybody with two eyes in his or her head and a brain between his or her ears will be aware of the massive population increase as a result of immigration, including the Minister of State with responsibility for immigration who is present. That should have rung warning bells regarding the need for advance planning to provide appropriate school places for children. There is no point in attempting to blame the Roman Catholic Church or any other church for giving preference to children of their faith in the primary schools they run. It should have been obvious to the Minister of Education and Science that additional school places would be needed. However, no planning took place. Under the capital services subhead in the Department's Estimate, spending on buildings, equipment and furnishings of national schools in 2008 will reduce by 4% compared with this year while the allocation for building grants and capital costs for second level schools will reduce by 11%. We sympathise with people who have to queue outside schools this month as they worry about a place for their children next September but, according to the Book of Estimates, capital funding for such schools will reduce by 4% next year, even though the population is increasing.

I debated this issue with the Minister on radio and she stated 50,000 additional primary school places would be needed over the next five years as a result of an increase in our population but no planning has taken place. I am sorry if the Opposition, whose job is to point out these issues, stands up and highlights them. We are not being negative for the sake of it. We are calling the Government to account for its failure in advanced planning and in dealing with such issues. When the Minister for Education and Science contributes, I would like her to outline what provision is being made for additional buildings and school places at both primary and post-primary levels. Unless my Book of Estimates is different from everyone else's, capital funding for both will reduce by 4% and 11%, respectively, next year.

Housing construction faces a downturn and the number of houses being built will reduce. The Government has depended on the private sector to provide social and affordable housing in new developments. If fewer houses are built, fewer social and affordable houses will be available. How will the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government address this shortfall? The Acting Chairman, Deputy Brady, comes from a Meath constituency with an increasing population and he knows as well as I do that the demand for social and affordable housing is increasing, yet the Government has depended on the private sector to provide a percentage of what it builds for such housing. This will create untold problems unless funding in the Estimates is increased to provide adequate social and affordable housing. Otherwise we will face an even worse crisis in the housing sector.

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