Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I support the calls made in the House today for a number of debates, particularly in respect of FÁS. Such a debate must be the widest type possible, particularly as we are entering a time in which there will be increasing job losses and a need to retrain many members of our society. Members must ask whether FÁS, as currently structured, is in a position to do so. Where stand community employment schemes or schemes such as the job initiative? I worked as a ground level operative with FÁS for a number of years.

That said, if Members have the opportunity of having such a debate, which will depend on the availability of the Tánaiste, they cannot avoid the debate on how public money is being expended properly. I have no fear that the money is being spent properly in community training workshops and community employment schemes. However, one is learning on a daily basis of an almost bacchanalian looseness regarding public expenditure in the higher echelons of a State agency. It demands a response from the House in terms of a debate. Senator Ross is correct in highlighting that other bodies are examining the issue, but we should have a debate. Since the Committee of Public Accounts is a select committee of the Dáil due to its powers of compellability, Senators, who cannot be members of it, have a responsibility to highlight inconsistencies.

I do not share Senator Ross's concern about the European Social Fund. I am convinced it has been spent efficiently and properly audited in respect of community employment schemes and training workshops. That said, the stories coming out on a near daily basis demand a debate in the House.

I support Senator Alex White's call for a debate on public sector reform. Tomorrow's report would be a useful stepping stone for such a debate, but it must be placed in context. It is not only a matter of cost efficiency in the public sector. The other side of the coin is the question of whether the public sector is the best it can be, given available resources. If we approach the issue from both perspectives, many unanswered questions will emerge. I look forward to the report's publication.