Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

We could have done with more time for this debate on the economy. To take up Senator Feargal Quinn's point, confidence is important but it comes from clear leadership and from facing up to the problems. Yesterday, there was no breakdown of where the €440 million in savings in 2008 would come or breakdown of where the €1 billion in savings in 2009 would come. There was no detail on what cutbacks will be enforced in health and education, no guarantee that frontline services will be protected and no answer to how much money might be saved by a review of agencies and quangos. Fine Gael targeted €50 million in the plan it put forward last week. No responsibility has been assigned to individual Ministers to ensure savings will be achieved.

I could elaborate on the deficiencies in the plan announced yesterday, but in the short time available I want to point out that one third of the proposed cutbacks for 2008 will be in the health area. These cutbacks consist of an €85 million cut from the supports for elderly people trying to meet the cost of nursing home care, €38 million from the slower roll-out of health projects and, most worrying, €21 million from what is described dubiously and worryingly as other savings. I wonder whether the Minister of State can tell us what are those other savings and how they will impact on frontline services. These are the concerns of the people whose houses are being repossessed and who are trying to gain access to proper health and education services.