Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

In every case, on every occasion, we seek to effect the principle of accountability so that if something goes wrong we bring in changes to make sure it does not go wrong again. That has been the constant effort of Government, the constant role of the Committee of Public Accounts and the constant job of every Comptroller and Auditor General since the foundation of the State.

I take full responsibility. I have never sought to evade any responsibility in my life, but I do not claim that there is a perfect world under me or anyone the Deputy served under. I say to everybody that there is a role for all of us in public service to make sure that taxpayers' money, which is hard earned as I well know - I represent constituents as much as the Deputy does and meet people from all walks of life - is not wasted. It is incumbent on us to make sure we do whatever is necessary and that is why we are bringing forward an expenditure control programme throughout all aspects of services to see where we can find savings and improve efficiencies and effectiveness before we have to ask people to go further than that. That is one of the responsibilities we will seek to discharge in the coming months, as we prepare for what will be a difficult budget in difficult circumstances. It cannot be avoided because the facts on the ground will not change, regardless of who sits on this side of the House.

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