Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We must be realistic about it. Let us forensically examine them to ensure there is no organisation that is not fit for purpose. That forensic examination is being brought to ourselves and that is why we have a referendum on the future of the Seanad. The question should not be whether we can think of a purpose for a body. The question should be whether there is a compelling reason for a body to exist and to do work that cannot be done by anyone else. I am straying from the direct issues.

Deputy Durkan referred to the pressure on the Government in the economic crisis. He said some kind things and I thank him for those. He also referred to the great increase in pressure on the Department of Social Protection and the fact that staff have been deployed to deal with that.

I thank Deputy Buttimer for his kind personal comments. He said something important about morale in the public service. This is something we need to pay attention to at all levels. We can only keep pushing people so far. We need an understanding that this is a process we are all in together. It goes to the point in respect of the perception that some people are excluded from it. We need to ensure no one is excluded from carrying their fair share of the burden. That has proven difficult in some instances and it is easier to make a speech about it than actually achieve it. His comments about ensuring we address the issue of morale and where we are going in the public service are valid. We need a clear vision of a quality public service of which people will be proud. This applies not only to public servants themselves but to the people who depend on the public services. They too should be uniformly proud of the service and we cannot have the throwaway silly remarks that are anti-public service in nature and that are issued without fear of contradiction. I believe that is fundamentally wrong.

Deputy Buttimer made some other points in respect of health funding. I am conscious of health funding and I am a former Minister for Health.

However, one must apply a clear notion of value for money to everything, including health expenditure, as well as every other level of expenditure. While health has become extraordinarily more complicated since my time in the Department of Health, the number of staff has increased from 60,000 to 100,000, if one adds together all the different elements. Although a huge range of new services, particularly for children, was put in place, because it is such a big chunk - one third of all public servants are in the health sphere - one must ensure we are getting value for money, that morale is good and there is a good-quality outcome. The majority of public servants do just that.

I have expressed my hope that the Haddington Road agreement was the last ask of public servants. However, we must now look to the future, to beyond the troika and beyond being dependent on the kindness of strangers for funding. We must look to what kind of public service we want, that is, one that is responsive to the needs of a modern 21st century Ireland, that is demonstrably efficient, that can deliver services that people need, that is adaptive to change - because the pace of change has never been quicker - and that is modern in its use of technologies. I believe that such a public service is absolutely achievable and that within my Department and across all Departments and agencies of the State, the capacity exists to put that in place in the coming years. This Bill is a small step in putting in place the jigsaw to ensure this objective is achieved.

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