Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I will tell the Deputy what the savings are when the savings are adduced and we have the process under way and done. I read out in my reply what is in the public service agreement and its appendix which requires consultation on all these matters and proper evaluation, down to the public interest evaluation. All the Deputy's concerns will be taken into account but we will do things that are efficient. I will not approach it in an ideological way, as the Deputy sometimes does. It is to determine what is efficient, what is good, and what would provide the best front-line service for people. I hope it will be new services as well and that it will not be a case of saying something was done in the past. I hope it will be new services that can be done in a different way. We are examining a range of different ways of providing better services to people as efficiently and effectively as possible.

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