Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

My goodness. The time goes very quickly.

Why is the report only coming out now? Can the Minister answer that? If one reads the chapter on managing agencies and having better relationships, accountability and transparency, one can only conclude this should have been Government policy for the past ten years. I would like to ask the Minister of State in particular about the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, "An Bord Snip Nua", which is to be chaired by Colm McCarthy. Can the Minister of State confirm in the House today that the terms of reference of that group are for current spending programmes only and not capital programmes? Will its reports be published? Will it review numbers and programmes Department by Department? If so, in what order will it proceed? Again, I must ask why the Ministers are not doing this. This group is not elected. I read with alarm that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, said he was asking this group to tell us where savings can be made. In other words, we are delegating cutbacks to front-line services to an unelected group when we have a Cabinet that should be making such decisions.

The Minister said he had taken decisions on cutbacks across Departments since June and had asked Ministers to find savings. Will the Minister of State clarify what work has already been done or is ongoing by Ministers in this task, with which they were charged in June? It seems as though budgetary policy is being made up on a month-by-month basis. This has a destabilising effect on the country. It is not giving people confidence. The lack of an overall strategic plan for Government is damaging confidence and damaging the job market in this country.