Vol. 562 No. 1
1 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach the progress to date in respect of the implementation of those elements of the programme for Government for which his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27094/02]
2 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Taoiseach the progress made to date in regard to the implementation of those areas of An Agreed Programme for Government for which his Department has responsibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1240/03]
3 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach the progress which has been made in implementing the aspects of An Agreed Programme for Government for which his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2416/03]
4 Mr. J. Higgins asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation to date of those areas of An Agreed Programme for Government for which his Department has responsibility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3280/03]
5 Mr. Kenny asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4281/03]
6 Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Taoiseach if he will report on progress to date in implementation of the programme for Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5425/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 6, inclusive, together.
I am pleased to have this opportunity to make a statement to the House on the implementation of An Agreed Programme for Government between Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats. Our programme for Government is both clear in intent and specific in detail. It is the agreed agenda for this partnership Government over five full years.
The starting point for the current programme for Government was rooted in a recognition that there is more to do. In an ever changing world, the reform process is never over. As a Govern ment, we are determined to keep driving forward. In implementing this programme for Government, we will not rest on past successes. Instead, we will build on the solid foundations we have put in place since 1997. In setting out to implement our commitments, we will bring forward and progress the most ambitious legislative programme in the history of the State. Since the Government took office on 6 June, 22 Bills have been published; 12 Bills have been enacted; and, in addition, there are 37 Bills before the Oireachtas.
Given the scale of the Government's legislative programme and the large number of specific commitments set out in the agreed programme, it would be impossible in the time allotted to fully detail the progress delivered. Requests for the details would, in any event, be more appropriately addressed to individual Ministers. The cornerstones of An Agreed Programme for Government are based on our desire to build a better Ireland for everyone and our promises to protect and expand prosperity for all, strengthen peace and reconciliation, guarantee improved pensions, reform and develop our health services and invest in better public services.
Without economic strength, there will never be an Ireland where everyone can prosper and fulfil their potential. A key objective of our programme for Government is to sustain a strong economy and "keep the finances of general Government close to balance or in surplus". In that regard, I congratulate the Minister for Finance on his achievement of an end of year Exchequer surplus of €95 million. By continuing to provide strong leadership and managing our way through this period of uncertainty, the Government will ensure Ireland will be well poised to take best advantage of the inevitable upturn when it comes.
The key areas for which my Department is responsible in terms of An Agreed Programme for Government can be broadly summarised as follows: supporting the development and implementation of policy in a co-ordinated way across Departments, including servicing the activities of relevant Cabinet committees; working with the British Government and the pro-Agreement parties to achieve the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement in all its aspects; co-ordinating the e-Government initiative to bring about an expansion in the range and quality of on-line Government services; and ensuring that Ireland's objectives in the European Union are carried forward in the context of my role as a member of the European Council and the forthcoming Irish Presidency.
Our overriding priority, as set out in the programme for Government, is to secure lasting peace in Northern Ireland and we have worked tirelessly towards this objective. On European affairs, we honoured our commitment to submit the Nice treaty on enlargement to the people in a referendum in a way which addressed the con cerns of the people as expressed during the previous referendum and in the National Forum on Europe. We are committed to playing a full part in the European Convention and the Europe-wide debate on the future shape of the European Union which is being spearheaded in part by the work of the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Roche.
On social partnership, the terms of the draft agreement, Sustaining Progress, are being considered by the various parties and I trust that they will be seen as a reasonable basis for continuing the partnership process. I hope the farm organisations will reconsider their position and decide to pursue their goals within the framework of social partnership.
I am not sure if the Taoiseach has taken speed reading lessons, but that was a well practised reply.
Is it not a fact that the programme for Government is a thoroughly discredited document? It is obvious to every Deputy who travels from constituency to constituency that Ministers in the current Government have left a litany of broken promises in every parish, townland and county. A specific commitment was given that hospital waiting lists would be eliminated in two years. Is it not a fact that that has not happened? Is it not a fact that cancer patients, who have had to travel 400 mile round trips for radiotherapy treatment, have had to take court cases to obtain their rights? Is it not a fact that children have to wait eight years for orthodontic treatment? Is it not a fact that the programme for Government committed expenditure for the recruitment of 2000 extra gardaí and that this process had not yet commenced? Expenditure for this year has risen by only 2% over the past year.
Is it not a fact that capital expenditure on primary schools is down by 4%? In virtually every county and parish commitments were given by members of the current Government to parents, boards of management and groups that no child would be educated in sub-standard facilities under the current programme? Given all of that and more to come, is it not a fact that the programme for Government is completely and utterly discredited and that the landscape, economically and socially, has changed since these promises were made?
I know Deputy Kenny realises it was not our intention to have the programme for Government completely implemented by the end of February 2003. We have been moving apace in implementing it across a range of areas. I am not here to answer for every one of them but Deputy Kenny will know that in health, despite the fact that there has been a considerable economic slow-down across the world, including in Ireland, we have been able to resource a substantial capital programme. We are spending double that of most other countries with the exception of Luxembourg. What we are spending under the capital programme is helping in the areas of health and infrastructure. It is also helping in the area of education with more than €300 million being spent there. That is slightly less than last year but taking account of what has been spent in recent years, it is a substantial figure. First and second level education are receiving priority in this regard. More than 55,000 houses were built last year. Employment levels continue to hold despite obvious difficulties particularly in the manufacturing sector.
On services, we have introduced the treatment purchase fund and more than 11,000 extra staff were recruited to the health services sector in the past year. Any reasonable assessment on the basis of what has been happening in more difficult times will illustrate that the Government is fulfilling its commitments. Things are a little slower than if the economy was growing at 12% but that is not the case anywhere in the world.
Does the Taoiseach agree it would be more honest for the Government to tear up the programme for Government and to admit that the people were conned? Does he challenge the assertion that there is no point in persisting with a programme that now counts for nothing? How many of the promised 2,000 additional gardaí have been recruited so far? How many will have been recruited by the end of the year? How many of the promised 200,000 medical cards have been issued so far and how many does the Taoiseach expect will be issued in 2003?
I do not intend to answer individual questions for every Minister. My view of the matter is totally different from that of Deputy Rabbitte. The programme for Government has started quite well, in a difficult climate across a range of areas. There is a substantial capital programme and a substantial improvement in the health service, where the large increase in resources is reflected in staffing levels, the capital programme for health and the treatment purchase fund. I spoke yesterday to people who are working in that unit and are dealing with over 3,000 cases. The Minister for Health and Children made clear last year that he would be unable to make progress in relation to the medical card area at this stage. The economy was growing by 10% or 12% at the start of 2001, but the latest figures, for the end of last year, indicate that it is now growing by under 1%. I do not think Deputies should try to fool people by saying that the same things can be achieved when the economy is growing at 12% as when growth is 1%.
I wish to make clear that the programme for Government is moving ahead within resources, in line with the growth and stability pact and within or close to surplus. Some €36 billion is being spent, although it has to be somewhat more prudently spent. I hope we will continue to spend the money in the right way, unlike other countries that are building up enormous deficits that will be tied around their necks. We made a similar mistake in this country in the past and we know that other countries will be caught out by the burden of debt. We intend to continue to decrease the national debt and to keep the debt GDP ratio at a low level so that we will be able to cope when problems arise. We are not going to move from that path.
Ireland has to take account of events in the international community. It is not my role to give a lecture in economics as Deputies are aware that no economy is doing well at present. Although Ireland's level of economic performance is quite low, it is the best in the OECD. The Government's task is to manage the economy effectively. It may be some time before things improve, however, as a result of what is happening in the United States, Japan and elsewhere in the Far East. Events in such places affect the Irish economy as Ireland is the most globalised country in the world, according to recent data. We have to manage our economic affairs in a prudent manner so that we can operate on a different level when things improve. The programme for Government will continue to be implemented, initiative by initiative, in a manageable way and within the resources that are available.
The Taoiseach has said he is somewhat surprised that the reality of the post-election world does not align with the fantasy he presented to the electorate prior to the general election. Given that he now appreciates that fact, will he tell the House if he intends to bring forward an amended programme for Government to deal with the reality he now accepts? Does he accept that the false programme currently before us is doing nothing except annoying and incensing people and making them realise that the Government is not living in the real world? Will the schools building programme, which has been cut back, be considered so that the most urgent cases involving essential education for children with special needs will not be affected in the same way as schools that do not have facilities for those with special needs? Will the Taoiseach bring some prudence to that area?
Does the Taoiseach accept, given that the programme for Government states that there will be incineration only when there is prior extraction from the waste stream of recyclables and problematic materials like metals and batteries, that this is not the case at present? There is only a 15% level of recycling. Does the Taoiseach accept that incineration should not be on the agenda, even within the terms of the programme for Government, until we reach the proper recycling levels promised in the programme?
Will the Taoiseach say whether the programme will be adhered to, given its unreal nature and the promises for 2,000 extra gardaí, which is now known to be fantasy? Will he stick to the programme or amend it to bring it into line with reality? Neither is happening at present.
Deputy Rabbitte asked about the number of gardaí. The figure is currently 11,900 and the Government will bring that to 12,200, including recruits in Templemore and those who will arrive there during this year. I apologise for confusion on that.
I disagree with Deputy Sargent's analysis. I do not want to go back over old ground but, regardless of the arguments, I cannot agree with something that is not true. If I was to accept the Deputy's analysis of the economic situation, I would have to accept that it was only late last year that the economic downturn occurred, but that is not the case.
The Taoiseach said that there would be no cutbacks.
We started 2001 with 12% growth and ended with 2.7% growth. The position was clear at the end of 2001 and in early 2002.
The Taoiseach knew that in May 2002. What is he going on about?
Deputy Rabbitte wanted to give out medical cards all over the place.
Deputies should allow the Taoiseach to speak without interruption.
I am talking about 2001, not 2002.
I am talking about May 2002.
That is six months later. Everybody knew the position in May 2002.
The Taoiseach kept it a well guarded secret.
If we are to discuss promises, I would have to work hard to keep up with the promises made last May – there were a billion a minute. I was at the bottom of the class with regard to promises.
For sure.
I was.
We did not make those promises.
Allow the Taoiseach to speak without interruption, please.
The Taoiseach should not lecture the House on promises.
The trouble is that the people did not believe the Opposition. That is a dilemma that Members opposite have been living with.
They believed the Taoiseach, that is the problem.
They did. That is why I am on this side of the House while the Deputy is on the other. With regard to the environment, the Government's intentions are set out in the programme for Government. Deputy Sargent might not agree with all those but the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Cullen, is attempting to move the environmental programme on in a substantial way.
He is trying to move some of the Government backbenchers on.
That is useful and the Minister has outlined a range of areas on which he hopes to make progress.
I do not disagree with the Deputy with regard to the schools building programme. It is unlikely that the substantial increases of previous years can be continued so resources should be spent on schools most in need. The Minister for Education and Science has categorised the priority areas, for which the House has asked for some time. I agree that schools for those with special needs should be helped and the Minister has categorised them in order of need. Schools that have come on to the list in recent years should not get priority over older schools or those in bad condition.
Thousands of schools have benefited from construction and refurbishment in the past decade, particularly in the past five years. Many of those have applied again for extensions and other improvements. Schools that are on the priority list or are categorised as being in need of repair should get priority.
I wish they did.
The Minister has acknowledged that.
Is the Taoiseach aware that principals, parents and students in schools throughout the country are angry that letters from him and members of his party dated last May outlining promises to provide funding for badly needed school repairs and extensions have not been honoured? How can he claim to be vigorously implementing the programme for Government when huge numbers of people have been bitterly disappointed?
After almost a year in Government, the Taoiseach has done nothing to represent the thousands of workers, young people and students who are being grievously exploited by private landlords. Does he agree that the package of reforms for the rented accommodation sector, outlined in An Agreed Programme for Government, should be implemented as a matter of urgency given that in this city, people are paying €600 or €700 per month for a bedsitter that would hardly be used as a coalshed in other contexts? Will he indicate when action will be taken to curb the activities of rack-renting landlords, who are making life such a misery for many thousands of working people? The Taoiseach promised to help them but he has not delivered.
The schools building programme contains a commitment to ensure that every school attains modern standards. This is underlined by the allocation of €343 million to the programme in what is a difficult year in financial terms. It is an enormous sum of money compared to what was allocated a few years ago. While it is insufficient and there is a waiting list, we must ensure that funding continues to be provided to the capital programme. Small as is the country, we are still spending substantially more on infrastructure than most others. We need to do that, and will continue to do so across a range of capital programmes, including education. Funding for the capital programme this year is approximately €5.4 billion. The priority areas have been identified and they will be addressed as times improve.
On the private rented sector Bill and the issues raised by Deputy Higgins, I gave a commitment. I promised that we would deal with the issue. I acknowledged that since the 1960s, no action has been taken to address problems in the private rented sector. During the term of the last Government, I established a commission of all the interested parties to work to try to find a solution to that problem. It prepared a report which I accepted. I gave an undertaking that legislation would be introduced. The Bill will be before the Dáil during this session.
Does the Taoiseach recall that the first section in An Agreed Programme for Government is entitled Building Peace and Justice and that it directly refers to the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement, areas covered by the Taoiseach's Department? The programme commits the Government to the full implementation of the Agreement and the consolidation of its institutions. Will the Taoiseach provide an overview of where this commitment now stands?
The last point in this section of the programme refers to the commitment by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats to improving North-South infrastructure links and facilitate cross-Border planning. Does the Taoiseach agree that this is mere aspiration and that nothing of substance has been done by the Government? This is evidenced in the publication of the national spatial strategy in November 2002, which barely acknowledged the idea of all-Ireland planning and infrastructure links. There was nothing at all in the strategy, yet it is supposed to be a 20-year plan, within which time I would hope to be living in all-island circumstances in a united Ireland.
A question please.
Is it not time to plan for such an eventuality?
I am not sure what Deputy Ó Caoláin's question is. If I heard him correctly, he started by questioning the Government's commitment to the Good Friday Agreement.
No, I asked for an overview in relation to the programme committing the Government to the full implementation of the Agreement and the consolidation of its institutions—
Allow the Taoiseach to speak without interruption.
I thought the Deputy said he questioned the commitment of this Government to the Good Friday Agreement.
I do not question it. I never have.
That is all right. I took up the Deputy—
I am happy to go on the record again. I accept the Taoiseach's commitment to the Good Friday Agreement.
Allow the Taoiseach to speak without interruption.
That is all I asked. The national spatial plan has designated a number of areas in the north of the country and in Deputy Ó Caoláin's own constituency which are to benefit from growth over the next 20 years. We have already seen considerable development in the areas in question, many of which were enhanced by designated status and other tax-driven policies. Decentralisation must be considered in this respect.
The infrastructural programme operates on an island economy basis, to which I totally subscribe. A decade ago, the trade that took place between Dublin and Belfast was only 25% of that between two similar cities in mainland Europe. That was an appalling statistic. An all-island approach has been adopted in a number of areas. In the tourism sector, marketing is done on such a basis, and there is closer co-operation between our statutory agencies, North and South, regarding foreign direct investment into Europe and the United States. There are very close relationships in the agricultural sector in good and bad times, as there are in the fisheries sector.
The largest physical infrastructural projects that have taken place anywhere on this island are taking place on the Dublin-Belfast road. A sum of €600 million is being spent on the tunnel, which is to allow free access to the port mainly by trucks and traders because the cost for cars is prohibitive. Work on the airport, Lissenhall and Dundalk-west bypasses is being carried out. Projects have already been completed in Dunleer, Drogheda, Balbriggan and on the Newry Road. These developments, which involve about €1.5 billion in terms of road infrastructure alone, are enormously progressive and allow for the expansion of work on an all-Ireland basis. I agree with the Deputy in respect of the national spatial strategy which was launched only three months ago in mid-November. It opens up opportunities, which I hope will be enhanced.
The Deputy knows that considerable effort and commitment are being made by everybody although it is too early to say whether we can achieve any major breakthrough. He will be aware that people have been putting in an enormous number of hours in recent weeks to see if we can make progress across all parties, including his own. Time will tell whether we succeed in implementing the programme.
Every Member supports the efforts of the Government in respect of the Good Friday Agreement.
Page 24 of the programme for Government states that the Government parties stand for a society in which all people can feel safe in their communities, their businesses and their homes. Recently, a young man had his throat slit while taking money out of an ATM. Every night on our streets unprovoked acts of violence take place in which people are kicked to death or close to it, but not one of the extra 2,000 gardaí mentioned in the programme has been recruited. The entire Garda pay for December is to come out of this year's budget and the force is suffering greatly from a lack of spare parts for its communications system. The Garda is being beaten hands down by organised crime. Is that not an indictment of the zero tolerance policy espoused by the Taoiseach and his Government over the past five years?
Fianna Fáil Members create the illusion of completion of works. The Minister for Defence sat before the parents and management of Littleton national school last year and told them that the bulldozers would be in the yard in three months.
I did not.
According to the Department of Education and Science's website, the earliest anything will happen is 2005 despite the fact that €50,000 has been wasted on architects' fees to date.
Typical.
The Minister can check that for himself.
The programme for Government promises a reduction in the cost of insurance claims through the reform of civil law procedures. What reforms have taken place? The programme also promises a metro link to Dublin Airport by 2007. Can any Government Member explain why it will cost 12 times more per kilometre than a similar project in the United States of America? Is construction inflation rampant or is there no one on the benches opposite with an understanding of how to keep costs down in terms of making commitments and devising projects? Are we to believe Government sources who say it is impossible to complete this project by 2007? Surely all of this discredits the programme document. The matters I have outlined comprise a litany of broken promises which were given to the people last April and May by a Government that knew the truth.
Commitments under the last programme for Government were met and exceeded. Likewise we will make a genuine effort to honour our commitments over the five year term of this Administration, not over a period of eight months.
There is crime but we have increased Garda funding from under €600 million – its level when we first took office – to nearly €1 billion. This represents an increase of 56%. We are committed to prioritising recruitment to bring the force's strength up to 12,200. The Garda is not losing the battle against crime.
The Taoiseach can say that, but communications are not good enough.
Operation Encounter targeted public order incidents of the sort referred to by Deputy Kenny. The Garda is doing its very best to focus on the night-clubs, licensed premises and fast food outlets where substantial crime takes place. The Garda is also tackling drugs which are the source of much criminal activity. We have put in place a national drugs strategy which will build on our experience to create a comprehensive framework from various elements of drugs policy. Other initiatives we have taken to tackle crime are working very well and Members will have an opportunity to discuss them with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform in the House this evening.
The Deputy is aware that infrastructural inflation has risen greatly. I quoted a figure of 37% to 38% in a reply to a question in the House recently. The level of costs for every kilometre of construction of roads, pipelines and such like is more than we would ever have estimated. Costs rose because of full employment and high wages in the construction industry and the agreements made on compulsory purchase orders of land. These are the factors that eroded the programme.
Examination of the metro project is ongoing but there is no doubt that it is a very costly project. The figures for phase one of construction of the metro are enormously high and will need to be closely examined, and the Minister is doing that. Some of the figures quoted by the international consortia are based on their assessment of what it will cost to do the job in Dublin, and it is very costly for a short construction area from the city centre to the airport. The costs are frightening and we must examine them very carefully. If the programme goes ahead we will have to consider what will be the effect of that level of expenditure on the rest of the country.
Does the Taoiseach agree that he is doing himself an injustice when he says that he was the bottom of the class last May? Does he recall who made the promise to end hospital waiting queues within two years? Does he not recall that it was he who made the commitment? Does he recall who made the commitment to increase eligibility for medical cards to an additional 200,000 of our citizens? Who made that promise but the Taoiseach himself? Does he not recall that in a moment of excitement he actually committed to the recruitment of 2,000 additional gardaí in year one and the Department of Finance had to issue a statement saying that Templemore could not churn out 2,000 in one year? Who made these commitments but the Taoiseach?
Would he not be better admitting that in terms of promising 3,000 additional beds he has not provided one additional bed this year? Does the Taoiseach agree that he has not provided one euro this year for new services for people with disabilities? Would it not be better for the Taoiseach to go back to the people and say: "We fooled you, we did not really mean any harm by it, we were only doing it to buy the election, we got back into power, the whole thing was a mirage and the programme for Government does not mean anything"?
Now that the Minister for Finance has arrived in the House, is it not the case that the Taoiseach put together the programme for Government at a time when that Minister's Department was preparing an announcement of a forecast of €750 million deficit in the public finances at the end of the year? Notwithstanding that, the Taoiseach went ahead and prepared this programme for Government. The result was a dramatic reversal of engines by the Minister for Finance when he cut spending from 23% to 14%, imposing extraordinary hardship on a range of people. The real programme for Government now is the new programme for sustainability which is about to be agreed with the social partners, an austerity programme on everything except pay increases. At this stage would it not be better if the Taoiseach told the people that he got away with it and he fooled them? His party and the Progressive Democrats conned them and now they are living with the consequences.
No, that is not the position. I do not agree with anything Deputy Rabbitte said, which I suppose will not surprise him or anybody else. My comment was on the basis that the independent analysis which costed the programmes on behalf of the national media, put my party's programme at the bottom of the list. If I recall correctly the Deputy's party was top of the list for that period.
We do not want to hear that now.
It is neither here nor there as nobody is particularly interested in that issue. People are interested in the Deputy's other questions. They are also interested to hear that there are now more than 700 extra hospital beds.
That was last year. There is a spill-over into this year.
No, there are 700 additional beds since 6 June last year. There are 11,000 extra staff as per the independent authoritative CSO figures put forward last week. An enormous range of small, medium and large size construction programmes in the health services is under way. More than 3,000 people have now had treatment under the treatment purchase fund. The commitment of €10 for pensioners has been maintained although people thought we would not manage that. There have been increases of €8 and €10 in child benefit, increases for widows and widowers and increases in care grants. There have also been changes in tax credits and PRSI for lower paid workers.
I am amazed that Deputy Rabbitte deems this an austerity programme. I know he does not mean it. He excluded pay but as a former trade unionist he would know that the programme gives not alone 7% in pay but about €1.5 billion to public service workers and a benchmarking deal. It opens up a whole range of initiatives in priority areas. Let us be honest. Where does Deputy Rabbitte think he is living? Does he believe—
The Taoiseach is the one who came up with benchmarking.
Do not discount €1.5 billion and say it is nothing or that it is an austerity measure.
That is only a pay deal.
Allow the Taoiseach to reply without interruption.
It is far more than a pay deal. It is €1.5 billion paid with a 7% increase on the pay bill.
Listen to the community pillar.
The Taoiseach is entitled to make his reply without interruption.
He is, but he is not entitled to mislead the House. He is the author of benchmarking.
When the Deputy decided to interrupt me I was making the point that it seemed strange to me that a 7% national pay agreement plus €1.5 billion in benchmarking could be considered an austerity measure. It is fascinating that he sees it as such.
It is a pay deal.
I did not say it was not a pay deal. The Deputy said it was an austerity measure and I think that is a strange way of looking at such a large and substantive increase across the programme.
I said the agreement was an austerity programme.
The Government is implementing the programme across a range of areas. We are implementing it, in a difficult period, in a way that is fair. We are trying to put resources into health and education, we are trying to sustain employment and we are trying to build up necessary infrastructure. That is where State resources are going. As can be seen from the figures issued last week, additional workers are being put into the health and education areas where they are needed most. I believe that is the right thing to do.
The Taoiseach mentioned a €10 increase in areas such as old age pensions. Does he accept that the national anti-poverty strategy is shattered and worthless and not worth the paper on which it is written? Does he accept that the programme for Government, which had a target of compliance with the anti-poverty strategy by 2007, will find it difficult to achieve its target? When he is reviewing the programme for Government, will he be honest enough to say that the national anti-poverty strategy will need to be reviewed in line with the Government's reneging on its promise or will he say that he will change matters in the meantime?
The Taoiseach referred to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, but does he accept responsibility for standing over the promises made in the programme for Government on such areas, particularly in regard to what can be done by his own Department? While he talks about recycling he accepts that his Department does not use recycled paper to any extent. This information came to light in answer to a parliamentary question. Does he accept that he will have to provide leadership if there is to be any real change in areas to do with climate change and waste management? Using recycled products in his Department would be a good start.
Before the Taoiseach replies we will have a brief final question from Deputy Kehoe. I know there are a number of Deputies indicating but we have run out of time.
I know the Taoiseach has a problem giving a simple "yes" or "no" answer but I wish to find out—
A brief question to the Taoiseach, please. We have run out of time.
Does he think it grossly unfair that schools that got confirmation last May of a new school, such as the school in Tipperary—
That question might be more appropriate to the Minister for Education and Science.
Not under the Ceann Comhairle's set of rules.
There is not a hope in hell that these schools will be built.
They changed the design themselves.
A Cheann Comhairle—
The Taoiseach to reply. I am sorry, Deputy, but we have run out of time.
Deputy Sargent asked me two questions, one of which was in regard to the NAPS. The commitment is to achieve the 2002 minimum rate by 2007. In regard to recycled paper, I agree that every Department should play its part. The volumes in my Department were small but so is the overall numbers as against a lot of the figures that were used in that question.
Is there anything in the programme for Government about recycled paper?
On schools, it is important that we continue to deal with priority level schools. That is why the Minister—
I asked the Taoiseach to reply "yes" or "no".
Allow the Taoiseach to reply.
—prioritised schools on the basis of need. He will work his way through that programme. Everybody in the House wanted him to designate schools, which he has done.
He will work his way through it all right.
