Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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52. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of public expenditure value for money reports he conducted in each of the past five years, including their date of publication, and the subsequent actions he has taken; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2080/16]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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My Department has policy responsibility for the public spending code, which sets out for Departments and State bodies in comprehensive terms, the analytical framework for value for money appraisal and evaluation of public expenditure programmes and projects.Under the code, responsibility for conducting value for money reviews lies in the first instance with the lead spending Department and its implementing agency. The main role of my Department in this respect is to provide direct guidance and assistance to line Departments in the carrying out of those reviews.

Over the past five years, my Department has carried out a range of evaluations and produced several policy analysis reviews, known as focused policy assessments. Rather than list them all, I refer the Deputy to the website of the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service, igees.gov.ie/publications. This is a new service, which I set up under the auspices of my Department, to do exactly the type of evaluation to which the Deputy referred. The work includes two comprehensive reviews of expenditure in 2011 and 2014 and specific expenditure analysis papers related to such areas as climate change, demographics, labour market activation and child care.

The Deputy will also be aware that in July 2015, the Government agreed a new three-year programme of value for money reviews across Departments which will ensure public spending is subject to continued ongoing analytical scrutiny. This review programme, which provides for more than 40 separate reviews, will be supported by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service. This service is not only sited in my Department. As they are trained, members of the service are being placed in all Departments.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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That is fine. The Minister's reply was all about policy, guidance and assistance but the people want to know that they as taxpayers are getting value for money and that their money is being well spent. Nothing the Minister said would give anybody any comfort in that area. He referred to a focused policy assessment, policy initiatives and overall responsibility for policy guidelines and assistance. That is all talk; it is Civil Service talk, but the people want to see particular action and they want it to be done transparently.

My question asked what actions have been taken as a result of those reports and what lessons have been learned. An issue was mentioned a few minutes ago, to which I will refer in a slightly different context, that of a value for money report on the postcode system. With respect to housing programmes has anyone done a value for money report on the cost of refurbishing a vacant house compared to the €193,000 to be spent on temporary prefabs for housing? Has anyone done a value for money report on the school transport issue? Has anyone done a variety of value for money reports on the costs of medicines and drugs in Ireland compared to other countries? That is what people want to see, not these guidelines, assistance and policy approaches. They want to see action.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Deputy will concede and accept that getting value for money and ensuring that the taxpayer always gets value for money has been the hallmark of this Government for the past five years, unlike the profligacy of what went on before we came into office. That is why we established the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service. For the first time, we have a professional cohort of economists and valuers to evaluate, on a neutral basis, any proposal. In fact, I have been criticised about a number of the papers published by the Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service because they have been critical of Government. The idea behind this service is that it is to stand alone and make an evaluation. Not all proposals that come from Departments stand up to that level of independent scrutiny. I think that is the way we should proceed in future.

In terms of the issue of prefabs, it was this Government, in the worst of times, that got rid of all prefabs in our school system, which were a blight on the school system that existed in the so-called best of times.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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My children are still in a prefab.

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I think the Minister has been so long in office that he believes the publicity that has been issued by various Ministers. I can show him prefabs in County Laois and the Deputy seated beside me has said that she can show him prefabs in Dublin city. There are still prefabs in place. The Government's press releases might not indicate that. The Government is now moving on to build prefab housing instead of permanent homes for people. There needs to be a proper assessment and a value for money report on that. An amount of €30,000 will bring a vacant house into full occupation for a family versus the temporary measure that is being taken. These are the issues about which people want to speak. When one is on the campaign trail and asks people about their postcode, they look at one with a blank face. Nobody has ever used it and they do not know what it is. I do not think that any of the courier or delivery companies know how to operate it. Yet the Irish people, through one form or another, have had to pay for these issues. While we have had a new Department merely allocating expenditure, there is no proof that the Minister can objectively show that we have got better value for money by the establishment of his new Department.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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There is none so blind as those who will not see. It has proved positive, with respect to the economic improvement we have made over the last five years, that we are very rigorous in the analysis we do of public expenditure. I make two points. On the issue of modular houses, which the Deputy has characterised as prefab housing, we have a housing crisis. It is a policy decision, not an economic decision, to get as many habitable houses available as we can and as an emergency measure. We do not have the time, bluntly, to do a long evaluation. We have desperate people in need of houses now. The Government made a decision to have 500 modular houses up and running. I ask the Deputy, instead of criticising, to ask local authority members to facilitate their placement in order that we can get people from the appalling situation in which we see of some families into decent quality housing. I ask the Deputy to bear that in mind.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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The next question is in Deputy McDonald's name.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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My children finished school five minutes ago in Cabra and they are in a school prefab. Is it planned to alter that? That school has been in prefab accommodation for 20 years: imagine that. Is that not shocking?