Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

A number of significant reports have been made recently. There is the IMF report and the report of the National Competitiveness Council and I believe the Minister for Finance will tonight receive the report of an bord snip nua, identifying where there has been waste and where savings of, it is reported, as much as €5 billion could be made.

Leaving aside the question of why the Government needs an outside body like an bord snip nua to examine these issues, is it intended that this report will be published? When we are talking about taxing or means-testing child benefit, a decision which would have a serious impact on many families, if not all, and when many children are in the front line of cutbacks, as we saw last week when we discussed the situation in Crumlin hospital, it is imperative that the Government should publish this report in the interests of accountability and transparency. When we are talking about reaching across the political divide and taking the best possible decisions for the economy, there is a moral imperative on the Government to publish it.

If the report shows there are €5 billion worth of savings to be made it is an indictment of policies and raises questions as to why these decisions have not already been taken by the Government in this crisis. In the proliferation of reports we see at present, it appears we are always one report away from a solution, whether it is in regard to making savings, competitiveness or saving small business.

The Government has set up yet another new body, an economic policy group. However, there are very few, if any, representatives of small business on that body. Senators in this House have said time and again that if the country is to survive, we must support indigenous medium and small businesses. Senator Mary White has spoken about this a great deal, and she is very experienced in this area. It is extraordinary that although there are people on this body who know about small business, there are no direct representatives of that sector on the body. Will the Leader take up these points and, perhaps, report to the House in the course of the week on the Government's intentions regarding this report? There is a need to discuss these reports in the House before the end of the session.