Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

It is pathetic to discover that staff in the Minister's department can work on only one project at a time. The programme for Government contained a commitment to devise a national carers strategy and to introduce a Green Paper on pensions. We are currently awaiting the White Paper on pensions. Is the Minister now saying there will be no progress in this regard until the carers strategy is completed? The Civil Service has grown by tens of thousands in the period in which Fianna Fáil has been in government. It is pathetic that it can only work on one strategy at a time.

When the document is finally produced, will it include specific targets and timeframes for delivery or will it be merely a grandiose visionary document that proves to be just as meaningless as the programme for Government seems to be?

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