Frank Fahey (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

One must agree when they point out that in the interests of good governance and responsible expenditure of Exchequer money, one must leave flexibility in place. While one may have the desire, determination and so on to provide for these services, as the Government does, one must do so within a statutory framework that is sensible and responsible. We got the balance right in this legislation in that regard.

This will ultimately be about the amount of money in the Estimates that the Government decides will be made available to deal with these issues. The six sectoral plans apply to six Departments only, due to the significant work that must be done therein. The plans do not apply to other Departments because they have very little to do. What must be done must be in place by December 2005. Section 5(3) refers to the Minister providing money at the beginning of the year and sections 25 to 28 provide for the other Departments having their plans in place by December 2005.