John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

——and depth of commitment given by the Government to different initiatives is disappointing.

The Minister of State is correct in stating that the public finances have never been better. The amounts of money coming into the State coffers on a weekly basis have never been more. However, the cynicism and the justified criticism of the public towards Government spending have never been higher. I will not rehash the various incidents of scandalous waste of public funds that the Government has engaged in over the course of the last 12 months, let alone the past eight years. However, I see nothing in this budget which leads me to believe there will be a significant improvement in that regard.

Several announcements are welcome such as the Minister for Finance going before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and Public Service in January to discuss the budget measures. This reform of the budgetary process is a step in the right direction. However, there is no fundamental change as to how public funds are spent and often scandalously misused.

There was a brouhaha about child care on the Order of Business. I noted, at one point, Senator White was rapturous in the Gallery during the Budget Statement. However, I am flatly disappointed by what the budget contains for this area. The promises of what parents of younger children were led to believe would come in the budget have not materialised. I acknowledge the €1,000 payment is a significant step in the right direction, but it is a mere drop in the ocean when compared with the amounts of money young families must fork out for child care facilities.

The Minister of State referred to decentralisation. However, it is clear that what was promised in the budget before the last local elections has not been delivered. It now cannot be delivered because the timeframe has elapsed.