Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)

They have come up with some good lines before but, even for them, that is a good one. They must have been scratching their heads when they put together the motion. They opted not to engage with the committee set up to consider the issue or with the Minister. They should accept the fact that there is a budget deficit of the order of €15 billion from which savings must be made and they should come up with suggestions. I believe Fianna Fáil accepts this but I am unsure about the Independent Deputies and Sinn Féin.

I tabled 15 parliamentary questions last week relating to the number of non-governmental organisations and other bodies that have been merged, scrapped or subsumed into other Departments or organisations to make savings.

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