Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I hope I can say everything I want to say in eight minutes.

I called for this debate a couple of weeks and thank the Leader for finding time for it. I read the second progress report on the public service reform plan and was fascinated by how much was in it. One of the issues that immediately comes to my mind, given my experience of the private sector, is the length of time it takes to get something done in the public sector. There was an example today as Senator John Crown outlined his difficulty in getting through the legislation to ban smoking in cars where children are present. That process has been ongoing for two years and it has still not come to an end. Similar legislation was introduced in the British House of Commons a month ago and will become law this week.

My first experience of moving from the private sector to the public sector was in 1979 when I became chairman of An Post. I doubt the Minister was around at that stage. I remember breaking some rules without knowing it and discovered the embarrassment that could be caused for the Minister if something went wrong. A couple of years later I remember deciding that we should have stamps to mark St. Patrick's Day. I suggested to people in An Post that there be a special stamp. They said it was a great idea and that they would get to work on it right away. That was in January and there were to be samples by late March. I said St. Patrick's Day was 17 March and they said, "Surely you did not mean this year." That is a reminder of how long it takes to get things done. We produced the stamps, although we probably broke some rules in so doing.

The Minister has heard my suggestion before of a public website on which the taxpayer would be able to see where every cent of the money goes. I raise the issue all the time and it needs to be raised. The Government has set up the Ireland Stat website and the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, has argued that this has to be the type of information we seek. It does not, as it covers export statistics or agricultural products. I would like to see something along the lines of the US model, a single website on which we would be able to see exactly what money was required to run public institutions.