John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

No commitment to anything is contained in the Minister's remarks. He wandered onto many topics that had little or nothing to do with decentralisation but failed to refer to the commitments given in this Chamber on 3 December last by himself and other Government Members. However, we have come to expect nothing else from the Government.

Some 12 months later, it is easy to comment on remarks made by Members in the budget debate last year. Nonetheless, it is interesting and humorous to look back at what other Members had to say last year in regard to the workings of decentralisation. Senator Mansergh stated that one of the reasons he was pleased with the budget was because the Minister was up-front about decentralisation. He stated: "I am sure Members from all sides are pleased that the decentralisation programme will benefit 53 locations within the extended timeframe."