James Bannon (Fine Gael)

I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on the report by the National Economic and Social Forum on improving the delivery of quality public services, which was published a little over a week ago. We need to raise standards in a significant number of areas, as outlined in that report. A crazy situation exists with regard to the quality of services delivered to the public. Answering machines have taken over and a huge lack of courtesy is shown to the public in this area. This is particularly evident in respect of Eircom, which I tried to contact last week about an elderly person who experienced a fault with their telephone line. I spent three quarters of an hour trying to get through. The same situation arises with the HSE and the ESB and when one is trying to obtain bus timetables from Bus Éireann. Answering services are provided everywhere and there is no accountability to the public.