Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I completely agree with the Minister that the urgent will always displace the less urgent. That is the nature of prioritising, and political leadership is about setting priorities. In the case at hand, I accept that a school which is considered the number one priority one week may, for various reasons, be displaced by another school the following week. There is nothing wrong with that. However, when was the last time we heard anyone in the Department of Education and Science be truthful to any school authority in this regard? If that information were made available, we could assess whether it is right or wrong, fair or otherwise.

The points I have raised do not relate to resources. There is nothing in this motion that requires an increased allocation of resources. The fewer the resources, the more important it is that there should be accountability. The reality is that the Department of Finance has issued a demand for internal audit processes, but we heard nothing about that in the debate. As I mentioned earlier, the Department of the Taoiseach has set up a new structure to oversee a briefing and organisational review programme dealing with such issues as customer service and delivery, governance, and customer and stakeholder feedback. None of these issues is currently being heeded. There is an information deficit. Senator Boyle made the same point although he did not express it as eloquently as I have. We must tackle these deficiencies.

I assure the Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, that I will not relent on this issue. Any Member who wishes to raise a particular schools building project on the Adjournment must be prepared to box clever. An té nach bhfuil láidir, ní foláir dó bheith glic. He who is not strong must be a little clever. I suggest that Members be more specific in framing these Adjournment matters. We must ask precisely what stage in the building process the school is at and exactly what is required to advance to the next stage.

I intend to table an Adjournment matter asking the Minister to explain the internal audit process and the quality assurance schemes that are in place. I will ask direct questions which the Minister may refuse to answer. In that case, I will approach the Committee of Public Accounts, either by writing to it or asking to make a presentation. I will ask all these questions and have them answered. We are talking about taxpayers' money. There would be uproar, for example, if the national lottery used the same types of blindfolded procedures for spending the moneys assigned to it. The same accountability is required of the schools building programme.