The people want to know where we are going from here and I am here to say that the initiatives we are bringing forward are seeking to address that problem.

Regarding the question of expenditure that was wasted, no Member of the House can stand over wasteful expenditure since it is taxpayers' money. We have seen accountability being exercised through Comptroller and Auditor General reports on an annual basis in successive Governments. It is a continuing challenge and the need to reduce and eliminate waste is a continuing challenge that is part of the functioning of Government and of the committees of this House, including the Committee of Public Accounts.

None of us holds a brief for that but I want to know what part of the expenditure that related to improvements in pensions and increases in education allocation and the health service people opposed at the time. The critique at the time was that we were not doing sufficient work in those areas. That is the record of the time, in respect of what the House thought of what I was doing.

I want to make a general point. At present it is all the more important that taxpayers' money is spent efficiently, effectively and wisely and there is a need to prioritise, eliminate certain programmes and ensure that the manner in which moneys are spent in the course of conducting our public affairs here is such that it has public confidence, and that is the challenge we wish to confront.

The Taoiseach did not understand the question I asked him or has deliberately decided to avoid answering it. I did not ask the Taoiseach to give his opinion on the waste of public money; I am taking that for granted. None of us stands over the waste of public money.

I asked the Taoiseach if he accepted his Government's responsibility for that waste and if he would apologise to the people for it before he looks them in the eye and asks them to dig into their pockets to pay extra taxes or suffer reductions in services or, in some cases, reductions in pay and loss of employment. The Taoiseach said none of us holds a brief for waste. He did hold a brief for waste. It was his brief. He was in charge. His Government was in charge when all of this was taking place and some of his Ministers have direct responsibility for the agencies, Departments and, in some cases, for the direct expenditure involved.

We are not engaged in some kind of academic commentary here. The people of this country are being asked by the Taoiseach and Government to pay now for the consequences of what they did. In some cases they are being asked to pay for it with their employment and businesses. They are being asked to pay for it with taxes and the loss of services provided to the public.

All I am asking the Taoiseach to do — something he has avoided doing in interviews he gave during the summer — before he says to hardworking people that he wants more money from them in taxes, that he wants to cut their pay or that they might lose their job, is to look them in the eye and say he accepts he has been in Government for 12 years, that he was responsible for the country's finances for four of those and that he is now in charge of the Government, and that he accepts, on behalf of the Government, that a huge waste of taxpayers' money was perpetrated by that Government. I want him to say to them that he is sorry and say it before he asks them to contribute any more.

I have said unequivocally on many occasions — maybe not to Deputy Gilmore's satisfaction — that I accept responsibility for every decision I have taken in government and that I did so at the time from the best advice and my best judgment, and that every initiative I took——

It was a waste of money.

——was for the purpose of improving the common good in this country. If, as happens every year, a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General, who holds that constitutional position, demonstrates——

Did the Taoiseach waste money?

——that there are instances where taxpayers' money is not used to best effect, of course I have to take responsibility for that. However, it is a situation that is part of the accountability mechanism in this House.

No one can stand up here and say with certainty that the €55,000 million that is spent on current programmes in this country is spent exactly as it is sought to be spent from this House by those to whom it is given. That is the story.

That was the Taoiseach's job.

In every case, on every occasion, we seek to effect the principle of accountability so that if something goes wrong we bring in changes to make sure it does not go wrong again. That has been the constant effort of Government, the constant role of the Committee of Public Accounts and the constant job of every Comptroller and Auditor General since the foundation of the State.

I take full responsibility. I have never sought to evade any responsibility in my life, but I do not claim that there is a perfect world under me or anyone the Deputy served under. I say to everybody that there is a role for all of us in public service to make sure that taxpayers' money, which is hard earned as I well know — I represent constituents as much as the Deputy does and meet people from all walks of life — is not wasted. It is incumbent on us to make sure we do whatever is necessary and that is why we are bringing forward an expenditure control programme throughout all aspects of services to see where we can find savings and improve efficiencies and effectiveness before we have to ask people to go further than that. That is one of the responsibilities we will seek to discharge in the coming months, as we prepare for what will be a difficult budget in difficult circumstances. It cannot be avoided because the facts on the ground will not change, regardless of who sits on this side of the House.

The horse has bolted.