Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

Last night, the director general of FÁS, Mr. Rody Molloy, fell on his sword, such was the public outrage about the information that had come into the public domain over the weekend and in recent weeks. It was an outrage which was felt very deeply by the public. We all heard people's reaction to the information that became public. It was an outrage that the Taoiseach and, indeed, the Green Party, did not seem to share. It appears the Taoiseach, on Monday, defended what was happening. The details that emerged pointed to enormous mismanagement of a State agency.

Reflecting on this, it seems to be fascinating that a public servant, rightly, falls on his sword on the basis of such revelations, but we never see a Minister taking responsibility for serious decisions that have impacted on people's lives. The Minister for Health and Children continues to hold her seat in Cabinet, despite the withdrawal of the cervical cancer vaccine and the deaths of women around the country through misdiagnoses, with the HSE clearly not being managed properly in its new incarnation. The Minister for Education and Science continues to hold his seat despite the appalling withdrawal of frontline services.

The last e-mail I received last night was from a principal in Lucan who had received a letter from the social inclusion section of the Department of Education and Science. He said it put the tin hat on the damage that has been caused to his school. He was referring to the withdrawal yesterday of the home-school liaison teacher who has been in the school since 1990, on top of other losses in the school. Every county throughout the country is getting letters such as this, yet the Minister for Education and Science maintains his seat at Cabinet. I could go through every Department and it seems there is never accountability from Ministers such as we saw last night in the case of a public servant. This is exemplified by the lack of debate in this House, by the fact that we have not had a debate on the economy in the Seanad.

A report is due today on public sector reform. I insist that report is discussed in the House this week or early next week. It appears the Taoiseach is setting up a committee of four to decide on cutbacks. Is that the right mechanism? Can we have a discussion here about the mechanism the Government is using to decide how to handle critical decisions in the public service on cutbacks? The example I have given is the most recent one in my constituency, but I could quote many others. These cutbacks impact on frontline services again and again. We have seen the waste in FÁS and there must be a better way to manage the public finances, even at a time of cutbacks that impact on frontline services. May we have a debate in the Seanad? I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to the effect that the Minister for Finance should come to the House to discuss the economy, as was promised.