Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)

I will answer the last question first. I will put the proposals in the Forfás report to Government before the summer recess. It will be a matter for Government to take the decision. I was also asked whether we have examined the Chilean system. Yes, we have. That has been taken into account in the FÁS and Enterprise Ireland reports.

On the high level groups, it is fair to say we are trying to have joined-up thinking and joined-up action across departmental boundaries. I will give an example of something I was involved in when I was Minister for Education and Science. We got the universities in Dublin to tender for their energy costs and they saved more than €1 million. We got the universities and institutes of technology in Limerick, Athlone and Cork to tender for their energy costs and they saved €1.5 million. Great savings can be made by crossing boundaries and having joined-up action and joined-up thinking. I have asked the various agencies in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation to consider tendering for their energy costs and to see what they can do. We want to transpose that kind of thinking across departmental boundaries. That is why the high level groups are so important. They allow for synergies in what we want and need to do. The savings that result from that are important for the taxpayer.

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