Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

On the question of what progress the McCarthy committee has been making, we wanted an independent examination of staffing levels in all parts of the public service to identify those posts and activities which are not essential. The group will consider proposals by the management of each public body to achieve the reduced payroll allocation made for this year. Those recommendations will assist the Minister for Finance to identify economies which can be made in the immediate future. The intention is to identify those posts and activities which are not essential and develop proposals for the redeployment of staff.

The group began its work late last year and agreed its working methodology in December. It is working on a Vote group basis and each Vote group has been asked to prepare an evaluation paper for the group in advance of meeting the group. The relevant Vote sections are preparing material for the group's consideration. The group has met eight Departments and is meeting the defence and foreign affairs Vote groups on Wednesday, 11 March. It has received evaluation reports from 11 Departments as well as papers from the relevant Vote sections in the Department of Finance.The eight Departments with which it has met are the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the Department of Transport, the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Finance and the Department of the Taoiseach. Under its terms of reference, the committee is required to report to the Minister for Finance by the end of June and it is on course to do so. The group is free to provide comments or reports on spending issues before that if it so wishes and these can be taken into account by the Minister for Finance and the Government as appropriate.

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