Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I hope that is the case, that the beauty appealed to him and that he will return. I understand the Senator was in the county on a speaking engagement, which I hope was successful for him and that he enjoyed the company of the people he met there.

Although I do not necessarily refer to this Administration, a mistake was made at Government level in regard to the issue of Killarney National Park, which is close to my heart. I never believed it should have been taken out of the control of the OPW and given over to Dúchas. I did not cry over the demise of Dúchas. However, it does not belong in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, where it is simply a spare wheel.

The output of social housing has increased from 3,200 to 6,100. However, the share of social housing in the total number of houses built has grown modestly from 7.6% to 8.8%, well short of historical levels. Local authority housing lists have increased by an estimated 18,000 families, up 60%, as social housing building has not matched the number of new families presenting each year with serious housing needs. The average cost of building a local authority housing unit rose by €55,000, an increase of over two thirds. This represented a rate of increase which was 25% higher than the house building costs index published by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. It raises questions about the efficiency of local authority house building contracts.

Even the most partisan Member will admit that many mistakes have been made in spending vast sums of taxpayers' money. If the Government does not acknowledge these failings, the public is doomed to see these mistakes repeated for the remaining years of the Government's term. The Fine Gael Party is determined to institute a programme of reform of financial procedures in the delivery of public services. A radical programme of public service reform is vital. To deliver improved services, the key objectives must be as follows: to get the best possible results from investments in public services; to strengthen the transfer of best practice into public services; to improve client power within the public service delivery system; and to enhance the devolution of decision making closer to the community.