Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Government is facing up to tackling the big burden. If we leave things as they are, they will only get worse. Deputy Adams is aware that there is a deficit of huge proportions which has to be dealt with. There is no point in running away from it. There is no point in turning one's back on it. There is no point in thinking that somebody will walk in next week and pay it off. The country and the people have to deal with the deficit and this is the reason the Government is facing up to tackling the big burden and the reason we have made changes in respect of the banks and we are trying to do something about serious situation even though constrained by the conditions of the IMF-EU bailout deal. On the other hand, we are carrying out a serious analysis of how public money is spent so that we can make decisions in the best interests of the people and the country in order to close that deficit.

Deputy Adams makes the point about citizens having the right to services and this is what the Government wants. However, this cannot be achieved without making these structural changes. I pointed out to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions yesterday that many of its members have shown absolute commitment to making serious change and many of them across the board have encountered a great deal of difficulty in making changes. It is clear that a significant number of public servants know that the arcane structures within which they work are not conducive to delivering the kind of efficient professional modern service to which the Deputy refers and this is what we must aim for. This has happened in other countries, notably in Finland, to which the Secretary General referred and in Canada and other countries. The cost of delivery of public sector services can be downsized without impacting upon the quality of the delivery of front line services. The Government recognises the scale of the challenge and this is the up front political challenge. We are tackling the big burden and when it becomes clear what programmes should go or which should be maintained or expanded, the Deputy will have ample opportunity to discuss them in the House.

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