Shane Ross (Independent)

The Minister stated that he does not agree with some of the targets. He did not really identify those targets. That is fine. Let him alter the targets. I have no difficulty in that regard. Let us just set the targets and get on with it. The Bill is not a panacea and I am not claiming that the targets are all perfect. Forfás indicated that it believes the Minister's targets would not be met. There appears to be a great reluctance on the Minister's part to set any targets at all.

As Senator McFadden stated, it is disappointing that the Minister did not make a declaration of intent or outline a timetable in respect of his programme. That programme is extraordinarily aspirational in nature. It contains many policy ambitions but there are no dates supplied. That is not good enough. As Members, particularly those on the Government side, acknowledged, we have missed an opportunity. However, we have been presented with a further opportunity to allow us to catch up but we are not taking it.

The Minister proceeded to state that the Bill is somehow contrary to EU rules. I cannot work out what he was talking about. Stating that something is contrary to EU rules is the final excuse of the political desperado. The Minister did not provide a convincing reason in this regard and muttered something about State aid rules. The Bill will not contravene those rules. Investing in roads or infrastructure does not contravene them. The Bill is not designed to give anyone an unfair competitive advantage; its purpose is to provide people with an infrastructural service.

The excuses provided, which were not echoed by Members on the Government side, were fairly unconvincing and basically mask a reluctance to pursue this issue, probably because funding for it does not exist. The reality is that the Minister probably does not have a Bill of his own and is intent on voting this one down because he has neither the clout nor the money. This matter is no longer — not that it ever was — a priority for Government. That is a road we take at our peril.

Members on all sides rightly alluded to the abyss into which the economy is plunging at present. We do not know where it is going and no one is aware of how bad matters are. However, the position will be much worse if we do not arrive at a long-term vision regarding where Ireland will be in ten to 15 years' time. That is not apparent this evening and neither was it apparent when the budget was introduced. Broadband has been placed on the back-burner because it may cost a certain amount of money to put in place and because the IT cuts to which Senator O'Reilly referred are more sinister than we have been led to believe. The IT budget is to be reduced by approximately €400 million, which is a substantial sum of money.

I congratulate the Members on the Government side of the House who picked up on the issue of quangos. It was a fair political point to ask why I propose the creation of two new quangos. I included them as part of the tailoring of the Bill to suit Senators on the Government benches.