Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to this Private Members' motion. As the main shareholder of State and semi-State companies, the taxpayer demands and is entitled to value for money. This guiding principle should underpin the provision and delivery of all services throughout the public sector. Indications in recent weeks of an internal report which suggests that the taxpayer has been exposed to possibly €9 million in costs as a result of alleged malpractices in Irish Rail have once again heightened fears that millions of euro in taxpayers' money have being squandered and that such practices are rampant throughout the public sector.

Wide-ranging changes need to be made to ensure that public confidence is restored and we want to see an end to the cosy cartel practice of appointments to State boards, which has seen the friends of Government land plumb jobs. This Government can no longer ignore the calls for the introduction of a vetting system for public appointments. We are all familiar with the US Senate hearings and across the water in the UK, vetting powers for MPs were introduced earlier this year which enable a select committee to scrutinise ministerial appointments.

The Exchequer provides over €300 million to CIE, which is distributed between Iarnród Éireann, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann. It is a substantial amount of money. While the focus now is on the lack of controls and procedures in place at CIE, I point out that the company is engaged in some very worthwhile developments and I have to compliment larnród Éireann for expanding its network, with plans for further expansion. This is in contrast to other semi-State bodies, which are moving to centralise and remove services from the regions.

It is not only CIE which needs to come under the scope of inquiry, as openness and transparency must become the norm in all State and semi-State organisations. We can take the airport sector as an example. In 2004, a decision was taken to separate the three airports but five years later, it was announced that the entire process has been deferred until 2011. I understand from the Minister for Transport, Deputy Noel Dempsey, that new corporate governance structures have to be put in place as a result. Under the new structure, the board of the Dublin Airport Authority will assume overall responsibility. The chairpersons of the Shannon and Cork airport authorities will sit on the Dublin board, while a Dublin Airport Authority executive will sit on the Shannon and Cork boards. Shannon and Cork airports have had to play second fiddle to Dublin for far too long. As a representative of County Clare, I emphasise that we cannot afford another board that is constituted in Dublin and does not have adequate representation from the regions. I remind the Minister for Transport that, in the absence of new structures, there is no board at all at Shannon Airport. When the Minister eventually gets around to selecting his nominees, I hope he will give the nod to people from the region with vast experience in aviation, tourism and marketing, rather than doling out jobs for the boys once more.

The Government is great at espousing commitments to balanced regional development, but its record of inaction speaks for itself. It established a task force under the chairmanship of Mr. Denis Brosnan, but it has not implemented any of its recommendations. It has allowed negotiations between Ryanair and the Shannon Airport Authority to break down. I understand that one of the key stumbling blocks to an agreement is the €10 air travel tax, which the Government introduced and therefore can do something about. Many aviation matters are outside its remit, but there is nothing to prevent it from abolishing this tax. When I asked the Minister for Transport yesterday to intervene to get both parties back to the table, he said he has no statutory function in this regard. If that is the case, what was the Tánaiste talking about last Friday in the mid-west when she claimed that talks between the Government and Ryanair regarding the travel tax were ongoing?

The reputations of the many State and semi-State organisations that deliver first-class services in this country are being sullied by the failure of the Government to put a proper and transparent system in place, to agree adequate controls and to demand accountability, which is so important. I agree that the exclusion of certain semi-State bodies from the freedom of information system is not healthy, but instead adds to the suspicion and veil of secrecy. It is important that these bodies' masters - the Ministers who sit on the deck - should be made more accountable. They should be answerable to this House for the sectors for which they are responsible.

Most speakers have said that the Government must be accountable for the National Roads Authority at a time when a great deal of road building is taking place. It is important that we get the road network completed as soon as possible. I understand that the NRA's budget will be cut substantially next year. There are rumours that the Castleisland bypass will be the only project to begin in 2010. I hope that is not the case. Regardless of what else happens in a recession, road building should continue because it is extremely important.

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