David Norris (Independent)

It is an important point of principle that the very people who most require parental leave will be disbarred from availing of it. I do not believe the saving to the Exchequer will be enormous considering the level of wastage in the public service. An obvious example is the €50 million it will cost to store electronic voting machines, which are mere junk. Can the Minister of State enlighten the House by telling us how much he estimates will be saved by the little bit of cheese paring proposed? It would be valuable to know.