Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

-----was perceived to have particular affiliations, but the problem is that they have done grave damage to the service of the public interest and the majority of employees in State and other public bodies who are themselves not politically partisan, except that they vote or do not vote in general elections in proportion with the rest of the population. The Tánaiste must take responsibility for the incredible damage done by the FÁS debacle to the morale of public servants.

Last week in the Sunday Independent, Mr. Nick Webb, the journalist who was the first to present the FÁS story in a major way and for which work he deservedly won a journalist of the year award, and Senator Ross published a story about Iarnród Éireann, CIE and contracts that had gone wrong. Reading that important piece of journalism depressed me because here we were going again. I do not know who the directors of Iarnród Éireann and CIE are, although I know who the managing director and chairman of the board are. As far as I know, the Government has not responded.

The critical issue for the Government in its remaining life, be it four months or longer, is whether it will try to repair some of the damage. In reforming the FÁS board, the Tánaiste seeks to restore her reputation and to do the unpolitical, unFianna Fáil thing of trying to open the new board's appointments procedure to have competent people with backgrounds in the labour, apprenticeship and business sides evaluated regardless of their political affiliations and to subject them to some level of appropriate questioning by the relevant Dáil committee.

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