Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on a report in today's newspapers that an overtime bill of €1.74 million is being paid to clear the backlog at the Passport Office where staff went on strike causing major difficulty and upheaval for a large number of people. We now find that one of the consequences of clearing the backlog created by the strike was that the office paid an additional sum of €1.74 million in overtime payments. The country faces a real danger arising from our current difficulties and many of us believe the direction we have taken will lead us onto the rocks. When issues such as that reported in today's newspapers arise, Members have a duty to take a stance on them. We must say this is wrong, public money should not be spent in this manner and the losses incurred during the strike should not be doubled by paying overtime to address the backlog created by the strike. One of the extraordinary explanations given for the additional bill was that many of those who left the country for the millennium in 2000 had their passports renewed this year. I ask the Leader to arrange a debate on the matter.

On Senator Boyle's measured contribution on what consensus involves, a realistic goal for the political system would be to reach an agreement on the objectives the country should achieve in the years ahead. The Government should brief the Opposition on the current position. The Opposition should also be provided with information on the additional payments that may be required of the country in the coming years. As matters stand, those of us in opposition are being asked to agree to a plan, the contents of which we do not know. In addition, we do not know what strategy is to be employed or the extent of the difficulties the country faces. In such circumstances, we are being unreasonably blamed for not agreeing to a plan, on which we have no information.