Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I second the amendment. In the 20 or more years I have been in this House I have seen more than 1,000 Bills go through the Oireachtas. Those which contained references to expenditure included a sub-clause stating that the Minister required the "consent of the Minister for Finance". This is mythology. If the Minister for Finance devoted himself to giving consent to all of the legislation which requires it he would do nothing else. The truth of the myth is that power is handed over to middle ranking public servants in the Department of Finance. Only the Department of Finance, with its extraordinary view of itself, would see that as a good way to do business. One of the greatest obstacles to the efficient delivery of public service is the enormous inefficiency arising from the centralising instincts of the Department of Finance.

In every Department there are well paid and well trained Accounting Officers who should be responsible for expenditure. Money should be allocated to Departments and the responsibility for spending it should lie with the Minister and the Accounting Officer. Once funds are allocated to a Department there should be no need to refer back to the Minister for Finance.

I have always been sceptical about references in legislation to moneys provided by the Oireachtas. The Seanad does not have a role in the provision of funds. All Bills should refer to moneys provided by Dáil Éireann. The phrase, "moneys provided by the Oireachtas" is in breach of the Constitution. However, that is for another day's debate.