Maurice Hayes (Independent)

An article in one of the morning newspapers referred to a Polish magazine which recounted the difficulties faced by Polish people in Ireland. I have many Polish friends and while the article may have overstated the case, it underlined the need for the House to discuss an immigration policy. The economy will require 50,000 to 60,000 fresh labourers every year for the next ten years and we must find a way to integrate them into Irish society to ensure we not only benefit from their labour but from the entire range of their cultures and avoid piling up the kind of trouble for the future one sees, for example, in Britain.

I am tempted by Senators Mansergh and Finucane to comment on the question of public accounts. While I agree with Senator Finucane that problems must be examined, they are not confined to this jurisdiction. I had the doubtful distinction once of explaining to a public accounts committee why a hospital for which the original estimate was £7 million had finished up costing £74 million. There appears to be a magic factor of ten in these cases. While there were some good reasons and some bad reasons for this state of affairs, political pressure and reluctance to drop a turkey makes things very difficult for public servants. In the private sector one would cut one's losses. I am not launching a political broadside as generally I support Senator Finucane on this issue. It is far from a party political matter. It would be better to conduct case studies on two or three projects to allow us to learn from experience without recrimination or conducting witch hunts but with the idea of improving future administration.