Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I will be brief. I welcome the Minister to the House to discuss this important legislation and I thank him for his commitment to the House. He will be with us again early in November to discuss several items which Members have raised during recent weeks. The Dormant Accounts Board has carried out great work over the years but there is a time limit to everything and it is being wound up by the Minister now. Nevertheless, the Minister is putting in place a transparent process, as he outlined in his speech, with regard to how the fund will be administered in future. The action plan will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and can be challenged within a 21 day period. Also, it must be published and provision is being made for adoption or non-adoption of the plan. Applications will be invited under the action plan as well. There is the utmost transparency in the process.

There is a need for every Minister and Department to make cuts. The country is in a bad state. There is much talk of getting back our economic sovereignty and the Government is going about it. This is about cuts in the Minister's Department. I commend the Minister. We have been discussing quangos. I understand 43% of the quangos under the Minister's aegis have been abolished or amalgamated. This example should be followed by other Ministers in Government. There have been calls for ring-fencing of money that will be saved. The savings will go towards helping us to get back our economic sovereignty and to enable us to run our own affairs in future. I commend the Minister on the legislation before us and I wish him well.