Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael)

There is also the strengthening of local government. There will be far more from this Government. This is not the end of political reform, but the start.

I accept Senator Barrett's point about oversight, which we will also have to examine. Recently, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, set up the fiscal council which will be very important. Members on all sides of both Houses will look to it in terms of how we will move forward the decisions that are made and regarding the economic assessments each year of budgetary announcements by the Minister for Finance. That will be important. In addition, the country is overrun with quangos and nobody will argue with that. They must be amalgamated. The first has occurred with the amalgamation of the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency. They will be brought back within the remit of the parent Department. Some quangos will be eliminated. That is in the programme for Government and it will happen.

There will be plenty of debate in this House about reform. Unless we reform the political system, local authorities and the two Houses of the Oireachtas across the board, we cannot face the people again. The people are crying out for reform. We must lead by reforming how we do our business and answering to the electorate.