Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

Therefore, I caution against an excessive focus on this aspect.

Perhaps Senator Barrett is informed by a symposium currently under way at the ESRI and reported on in The Irish Times yesterday. For those of the view that past Governments have somehow been incompetent in implementing public service contracts, it should be noted that problems in this regard are not unique to Ireland. Throughout Europe there is, on average, a cost overrun of between 25% and 40% on public service contracts. Will the Leader initiate a debate on the performance of State agencies involved in job creation? Speakers at the symposium have suggested that such agencies tend to fail not only in this country, but generally in their attempts to create sustainable jobs. Perhaps in the current climate, with 450,000 people out of work, it would be useful to have a debate encompassing Government policy in regard to retraining, the role of State training agencies, the changeover from FÁS to Solas and the creation of local bodies that will be aligned to the reconfigured VECs. There is much to discuss in terms of job creation in the medium to long term.