Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I raised this matter when the Bill was before the House. I have some concerns about public bodies which have untrammeled control over their finances, particularly where this applies on an income and expenditure basis. Cost controls and cost-effectiveness are often not applied as diligently as they might be. Despite what we said earlier about salaries in many of the bodies that come under the remit of Government and these Houses they are excessive. Unfortunately, that applies across the public and private sectors and is a significant part of our overall economic difficulty and our challenge is to overcome it.

The International Monetary Fund spoke recently about the need to restore competitiveness. We do not have the control to devalue our currency which means there will be pain in respect of pay and salary. I am concerned that there is no system of checks and balances within the BAI to ensure that costs are controlled properly and that it functions as a normal competitive commercial enterprise. Will the Minister examine where levies can be applied to the bodies being overseen? I am concerned that this can lead to a level of incestuousness within the system which is not good and to some extent makes blunt some of the independence of these bodies in the administration of their functions. Perhaps that is a general comment rather than being specific to this body. It is probably more applicable to other State bodies from the point of view of its implications for effective policing in areas that are fundamental to public policy.