Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the announcement today of the rationalisation of agencies operating in the field of industrial relations. Five agencies have become two, with 20% fewer staff and 10% less money. One of the benefits claimed is that a total of two electronic forms will be used, one for a complaint and the other for an appeal, from now on, replacing the 44 paper forms that existed previously. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, the Minister of State at his Department, Deputy Gerald Nash, and Mr. Kieran Mulvey are to be complimented on the reforms and I wish their efforts well.

These reforms were recommended by an bord snip nua when the public finances were in a dire position. The contribution this body made to the improvement in the public finances should be recognised. It was not just a group of Thatcherites or monetarists but people who were trying to implement better governance of the country.

The IMF meets this week and part of the agenda of the meeting will be to choose a new director. An agreement is in place that the position should be held permanently by a person from western Europe. We have had three financial crises, one each in the United States, Europe and China, respectively, and the IMF has proved to be less than adequate in dealing with them. Yesterday, theFinancial Times stated that somebody with a mastery of international macroeconomics should be appointed and called for politicians to be excluded and candidates to have leadership skills. It suggested that a panel of eminent international economists submit a list of names, rather than using the old pals' network through which such posts have been filled previously. It is essential, if the IMF is to play the vital role envisaged in the Bretton-Woods agreement, that we move to ability-based criteria, as the Financial Timessuggests. Ireland could propose Mr. Mark Carney, a former Governor of the Bank of Canada, where there was no banking crisis unlike the crisis that occurred across its border with the United States, who is currently the Governor of the Bank of England. Canada and Ireland sit in the same constituency of the IMF and Mr. Carney is a member of the Irish diaspora and carries an Irish passport. If Ireland were to take the initiative on this matter, it would make a major contribution to ending the unsatisfactory position whereby the IMF has been asleep during critical financial crises.