Sean Barrett (Independent)

Go raibh maith agat, a Aire. That is what the Minister's colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, must address. He referred to low-hanging fruit. I think much low-hanging fruit hit him on the head. The pattern of increases in non-pay administration budgets is evident right across the board. The Minister and his Cabinet colleagues must come to terms with that. The administration, as published, is €36 million. That is the equivalent of the cost of five Abbey Theatres going on administration. We must question that. It is a problem in the health service as well, the massive growth of bureaucracy as against front-line staff. We have a problem in that regard. It is important to diagnose what got us into the mess. Whether we get rid of people who serve on a board voluntarily or who have offered to serve for free will not solve the problem, which is layers of bureaucracy. The problem is Sir Humphrey, not the front-line staff. I accept what the Minister said about the need to correct the numbers but they apply across the board. People looking in on the administration from outside wonder if a so-called capture has taken place, that the radicalism the electorate chose when it changed the Government so radically has not altered the permanent Government. The nature of bureaucracy is that it likes to expand the budget, expand its influence and grow even when the overall activity in the economy is contracting. That is a serious danger.

Another point on how bureaucracy behaves is exemplified in the McLaughlin report on local government. I have discussed it with the Minister's colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan, and the Minister of State at the Department, Deputy Fergus O'Dowd. In the moratorium period in local government the number of directors reduced by 7%, clerical and administration staff reduced by 4%, professional and technical staff by 3.7% and outdoor staff – those who do the work – reduced by 13%. We do have a problem with bureaucracy. I hope that in tackling it we do not damage the vital front line and that we take into account what reaches through to people in the art galleries and theatres. The bureaucratic side has done remarkably well to escape so lightly to date. We must not allow it to continue to escape by endangering the cultural activities the Minister, I and everyone in the House value. A new emphasis is needed the next time around on budgeting because bureaucratic costs do not produce anything. They are inputs and overheads. We are all interested in directly productive cultural activities, including all the work the Minister did himself for cultural activities in County Kerry such as raising money abroad.

The situation is echoed in local government, the health service and in universities. If we keep going, there will be a small number of people giving lectures but there will be an increased number of strategic managers watching them give the lectures. The Government must get a grip on the problem. The emphasis should be on people who put on performances, shows and exhibitions in galleries which people attend in large numbers. Bureaucracy got off very lightly in the previous Book of Estimates.