Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wish that as Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform I had Norwegian oil. We could then have extraordinarily good public platforms. Norway has the biggest reserves of money of any country in Europe.

In regard to the Deputy's point, we are investing. We are investing to save. That is the reason we had to front-load People Point. We had to ensure we had people in training. An important part of the second wave of reforms I have announced goes to the point about management made by the Deputy. The notion that the number of trolleys and ambulances would not be in sync is a management issue. People take responsibility for this. The purpose of the proposals in relation to upskilling and training is to ensure people doing particular jobs are fit to do them. We must ensure we do not, as has happened in the past, appoint somebody to the position of procurement or personnel officer without any prior training. We can then make them accountable. The Deputy will be aware that a series of town hall meetings have been held to obtain the views of public servants on how these important issues can be addressed.

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