Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I thank the Leader for making those arrangements for statements on Northern Ireland, a debate which has been sought by Members from all sides of the House for some months. Does the Leader know when the tribunals of inquiry Bill will be brought before the House? The Bill is intended to regulate the costs to the Exchequer of barristers and solicitors who represent various parties before tribunals. However, we need new legislation not just relating to costs for barristers and solicitors but also to regulate the costs of consultants who work for Departments. This year in excess of €100 million will be spent by the taxpayer on consultancies in Departments. We must call a halt to this now. Legislation is needed to regularise the way those costs are established and value for money audits are required to ensure that we get far better value for money than has been achieved in the past.

The Taoiseach openly told the Dáil yesterday, with regard to the PPARS project, that the consultants were paid too much. The Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, described the payments as "extraordinary and excessive". The aforementioned are the CEO and deputy CEO of Ireland plc and they must explain who bears responsibility for this mess. This is an endemic problem in Government in recent years, particularly the last eight years, with major decisions being hived off to consultants who are delighted to do this work for Government. It has a very negative effect on the Civil Service and public administration and goes against the strategic management initiative that the Government has promoted in recent years. We need root and branch reform and new legislation in this area to ensure better value for money so that the taxpayer is not ripped off in future.

There is an item on the Order Paper of the Dáil today welcoming an initiative by US Senators John McCain and Edward Kennedy to introduce a new Bill to help the undocumented Irish living in the United States. The Leader and other Senators are part of a sub-committee of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs that has been working on this issue. The motion before the Dáil today is an all-party one and I ask the Leader to provide time in this House next week to have a debate on the issue because there is strong interest in it among Senators from both sides.