Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The people want to know where we are going from here and I am here to say that the initiatives we are bringing forward are seeking to address that problem.

Regarding the question of expenditure that was wasted, no Member of the House can stand over wasteful expenditure since it is taxpayers' money. We have seen accountability being exercised through Comptroller and Auditor General reports on an annual basis in successive Governments. It is a continuing challenge and the need to reduce and eliminate waste is a continuing challenge that is part of the functioning of Government and of the committees of this House, including the Committee of Public Accounts.

None of us holds a brief for that but I want to know what part of the expenditure that related to improvements in pensions and increases in education allocation and the health service people opposed at the time. The critique at the time was that we were not doing sufficient work in those areas. That is the record of the time, in respect of what the House thought of what I was doing.

I want to make a general point. At present it is all the more important that taxpayers' money is spent efficiently, effectively and wisely and there is a need to prioritise, eliminate certain programmes and ensure that the manner in which moneys are spent in the course of conducting our public affairs here is such that it has public confidence, and that is the challenge we wish to confront.

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