Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I would like to raise two items on the Order of Business. There has been an announcement that a consortium of Irish investors is willing to become involved in recapitalising the Irish banks. Does the Minister plan to introduce legislation to allow the National Pensions Reserve Fund to invest matching funds? Or is it still his view that public investment would only be a last resort, and that he would prefer a take-over of Irish banks by international venture capitalists to an investment that would predominantly keep Irish banking in Irish hands?

Yesterday the Government announced the establishment of the fifth review group in the last 15 months on the public services, none of which has yet produced tangible savings in public spending. Does the Minister plan changes to the totally dysfunctional way in which budgets are presented to the House? They are presented in a way which neither tracks down waste nor rewards high performance, but are all about the demands of agencies and not the clients, and what is to be spent and not what is to be achieved.

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