Brendan Ryan (Labour)

That is a fact. All legislation which comes through this House states that where expenditure is involved in the Department, it is subject to the control of the Minister for Finance as if there was some superior wisdom in that Department. If we want to decentralise, the first thing we must do is decentralise power. If one decentralises power and authority, one then creates increased numbers of public servants in various areas. That works and is real, effective and efficient. This is an exercise in tokenism, a large part of which I hope will never be implemented because it will be a disaster for the efficiency of public servants.

The Minister cited two examples — the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social and Family Affairs. They have been decentralised because they provide a regional office to provide a regional service to people in the regions.