Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

That relates to a review on programme expenditure, the McCarthy report. Recommendations have been made in respect of trying to rationalise local authorities and local authority provision. One reads much in the newspapers coming up to budget time, including speculation, argument and suggestions. Decisions are made on budget day and we should concentrate on these. How I reconcile any change that must take place, whether in local authority structures, the health services or any area of provision of public services, is that we need to modernise and use every possible means of rationalising services to best effect to have the most cost-effective system. The county system has served us over the years, with various educational committees such as town VECs, county VECs, regional bodies and a series of organisations. Some of these were built for programmes at the insistence of the European Union. All of this is being considered, some in the short term and some in the medium term.

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