Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

One could have added a further 20 pages to the bord snip report and say "of course, away you go" but Governments have to make decisions about people and their lives. We are trying to achieve the right balance. In respect of the establishment of the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, we have to be thorough and comprehensive about the issues that may arise in regard to children, youth affairs or whatever. We can draw from every Department to ensure clarity in regard to the powers and authority the Minister can possess. The Ministers, Deputy Howlin and Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, want to answer parliamentary questions as much as anybody else but it is important we ensure an adequate transfer of power to their offices so they are constitutionally and legally entitled to do so.

This is not a case of spin over substance. Important issues must be addressed and one of the iconic failures of Deputy Martin's Government was to drive 13 or 14 State cars to Farmleigh House in the middle of black Friday while saying it would do the best it could. We have changed that.

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