Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Certainly, on the surface it appears as though 169 removals of State bodies mark an improvement. It certainly tells us what an awful state the quangos were in before the Government took office and how they simply had been created willy-nilly. However, when one gets down to assess the figures - I hope I heard the Minister's statement correctly - the savings have been worth €27 million to the Exchequer thus far. That would not keep FÁS going for one week. It is very difficult to know what the equivalent figures are because FÁS has been divided up, but it certainly cost €1 billion per year to run a couple of years ago. Therefore, in the overall context, Members are talking about absolute peanuts. If one is to learn anything from the Irish Water debacle, it is that semi-State bodies and, in particular, State monopolies, are utterly reckless with public money. Does the Minister have further initiatives in mind to ascertain whether other State bodies are indulging in the practices in which Irish Water is indulging? What are his intentions in this regard?

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