Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the fact that the personnel are challenging policy within the Department because it is a Department that needs to be challenged consistently, especially internally. However, we are not seeing that. Will we see a National Competitiveness Council report for 2015 in the same way we saw one for 2014, despite the fact that it is being ignored? Will we see the kinds of reports it produced on legal services? The Minister of State said there will be an ICT review. The Department is succumbing to cheerleading. One could never call the action plan for jobs review independent; it has never been. It is the biggest cheerleader or pompom of them all. It is basically a pat on the back for everybody, with a rating of 95%. The Department always leaves room to demonstrate independence but there is none really. It is essential that we see the independent thought published and the policy challenge available in public as opposed to within the four walls of the Department.

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