Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The next argument then is that we have too many. I make the point that, perhaps, it points to the fact that it is easier said than done. That is the first point. The agentising out of Government delivery of programmeshas been part of previous Civil Service reform programmes, including ones when the Labour Party was in Government, because it has the benefit, if properly done, to deliver services and have a focus on the delivery of a particular service. My attitude to all of this is that at the end of the day it is not a simplistic equation of the fewer agencies, great services. The problem is, whatever way we have to deal with it,depending on how they are organised, reforms will require us to apply different means of addressing these issuesdepending on the outcomes. The issue is what guarantees better outcomes. I take the point that we have to review all of this. The OECD has pointed this out. I will set up a task force which I intend will report to Government before the end of the summer on how to implement that OECD report so we go about this in a proper way. The last thing we want to do with this is to put everything in and expect it will be honky dory. Itis not as simple as that. From my point of view, all proposals coming to Government in terms of the establishment of agencies will be critically assessed by us as to whether the task can be done by existing agencies or if agencies are being appointed, to what extent we can ensure they are focused on a particular issue and in a way that will maximise benefits to the citizen.

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