Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I thank all Senators for their contributions to what has been a very good debate and will try, with whirlwind speed, to go through some of the points made.

Senator Twomey asked for a progress report on the Croke Park agreement, an issue which, I gather, was also raised on the Order of Business today. It is a very important part of the reform programme in respect of the public finances, certainly in the case of my own quasi-Department, the Office of Public Works. I discussed the matter only yesterday with the chairman who, in turn, was due to meet trade union representatives on the subject. Obviously, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. It is fair to say the agreement was subject to reconsideration if there were certain dire financial circumstances, but I am certainly in favour of seeing whether we can make it work to release some blockages in the public service.

In an ideal world one would maintain capital spending. In the very early stages of the crisis that was the Government's intention, but that did not prove to be tenable. Our capital spending is still relatively high compared to most EU member states, but obviously it cannot be excluded from the savings programme. I watched with interest the debate within the Labour Party on the subject of metro north, the immediate short-term cost of which would be very small. Like the DART, it would be financed over a period of 20 years. I personally would like to see it happen.