Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

In the first place, there will be an adequate staffing level. I reiterate, the quality of the service to be delivered to the public has been at the centre of decisions on re-organisation and reform of our public services made by the Government and which will be announced later.

I do not believe that even Deputy McDonald would argue there is no need to reform our public services, in part for the reasons she stated. We need to have a more efficient public service that delivers value for money and has accountability. We need change. Public services and the demands of the public for services change over time. There comes a time, therefore, when it is necessary to change the way in which public services are delivered and to change the institutional arrangements provided for them, along with the number and nature of the agencies in place for providing public services. All of that forms part of the package of reforms the Minister, Deputy Howlin, will announce later today. That is being done so that we can deliver better and more cost effective services to our public.

We also need accountability. We will have a considerably improved accountability. I reiterate, we must respect our public servants.

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