Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The Minister has said public service reform is his first priority but in the two minutes of his reply he did not offer a single specific initiative. The Minister has been in the Cabinet for 13 years and has been responsible for the public service for four years but he has no proposal to offer the Dáil on the eve of his taking office as Taoiseach. Would the Minister agree to an audit of quangos, as proposed by Fine Gael, so we can start to rationalise duplication that is evident? Would he agree to changes in the linking of pay and performance? To return to Deputy O'Donnell's point, this is at the core of disquiet at the payment of top earners in the public service. Would the Minister agree to an efficiency programme to squeeze back the administration in Departments? Would he agree to abandon ill-conceived elements of the decentralisation programme, which is wastefully absorbing a great deal of the time of public agencies? Would he agree to change the archaic way in which we deal with the Estimates and the budget on one day and make a decision without any meaningful scrutiny of what they are to achieve? Is there anything the Minister is going to change?

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