Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Taoiseach draws his authority and strength from the Constitution and the people. His leadership does not come from agencies or reports commissioned by the Government. One of the hallmarks of what I regard as the failure of this Government and its predecessors has been the devaluation of the public service by the commissioning of report after report from outside consultants which in many cases could have been done within the public service and behind the recommendations of which the Government hides.

In respect of the new body, the special group on public service numbers and expenditure programmes, a ludicrous situation appears to have arisen. Last year the Government set out its programme for Government and the budget and capital allocations for various programmes which Ministers would implement in their respective Departments as part of the public service. Before the year was out, another board was established to take some of this money back from Ministers and Departments. Surely the Ministers appointed by the Taoiseach should see to it that the money allocated to them by the Government achieves value for the purpose for which it was intended. An bord snip nua, as the new body is known, is now required to do the work and make the recommendations when Ministers should know what is to happen in their Departments. Will the body's report be published and will we see its recommendations? Does the Taoiseach agree it is ludicrous that in the course of one year the Cabinet solemnly proposed votes in respect of moneys for programmes and expenditure to be spent under Ministers and then asked for recommendations on how they could be drawn back?

The Government's task force for the public service recently recommended a move to a common public service contract to facilitate the transfer of staff to priority areas. When is that likely to take effect and will it require legislation? It is an important recommendation in terms of the quality of the public service.

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