5. Question No. 5—FinanceHon BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of FinanceQuestion No. 5—Finance5. Hon BARBARA EDMONDS (Labour—Mana) to the Minister of Finance: Does she stand by her commitment not to cut frontline services?Hon NICOLA WILLIS (Minister of Finance): Yes. I stand by the full text of that commitment which I spoke to at the Finance and Expenditure Committee and where I went on to say In committing to front-line service we are not committing to doing things the way they have always been done necessarily because actually we think there's a strong case for improving the delivery of front-line services." In some cases it may be that the services that New Zealanders are receiving whether it's from their hospital or their school aren't actually delivering the results they want. So we are not going to ban ourselves from looking at other ways we could do things better differently so that we can ensure the resources we are deploying have a bigger impact for the people we are seeking to serve.Hon Barbara Edmonds: Does she consider the additional staff at the IRD processing over 7 million invoices a year for her early childhood education tax credit a back-office function; if so how fast can parents expect their childcare rebate to be paid into their bank account?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: I would consider it a back-office function and I think it's important that all back-office functions are as efficient as possible. We are currently in consultation with the early childhood sector to work out how we make the delivery of this policy as efficient as possible. It's our expectation that this rebate be delivered as quickly as possible and that's why we're consulting.Hon Barbara Edmonds: Will she reverse her Government's decision to remove eligibility for funding for diabetes monitors that allow carers to sleep through the night without having to worry about sudden death from a slump in glucose levels?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: If the member wishes to ask questions about the disability services portfolio she should put them on notice to that Minister.Hon Barbara Edmonds: Is she confident that none of the changes proposed in the recent restructuring documents released by the Ministry of Health Ministry for Primary Industries Ministry for Ethnic Communities Ministry for Pacific Peoples Customs and other ministries will impact front-line services? Hon NICOLA WILLIS: That is the expectation we have conveyed to chief executives.Hon Barbara Edmonds: Does she agree with John Key that her commitment to fully fund her tax changes through Public Service cuts is too hard and risks plunging the country into discontent as reported by the New Zealand Herald?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: John Key would be very unhappy to hear the member opposite mischaracterise his comments in that way. And I would put to her that we should have honour in this House with comments that we make and how we represent others.Hon Kieran McAnulty: Point of order Mr Speaker. As has been referred to in this House a number of times and as was used in reference to your response to the Hon David Seymour earlier we take members by their word. Barbara Edmonds was quoting John Key. If the Minister disagrees with that she should say so. She should not be questioning the honour of members in this House in order to respond to a fair question.SPEAKER: Yeah all members elected to this House are considered honourable members and so that is a reference that is not best made. Would the Minister like to say further on that?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: I think it is very important that when members represent others by way of paraphrase they take care to be very accurate.SPEAKER: I think a withdrawal and apology for the dishonourable point would be helpful.Hon NICOLA WILLIS: Sorry?SPEAKER: I think a statement of withdrawal and apology for the reference to the dishonourable nature of members would be helpful to the whole House.Hon NICOLA WILLIS: I withdraw and apologise. SPEAKER: Thank you.Hon Barbara Edmonds: Is she committed to meeting the $2.8 billion Treasury estimates is required to maintain the level of existing services for the impact for forecasted inflation and wage growth?Hon NICOLA WILLIS: We have previously made clear our commitment to ensure that there is more funding available for front-line services."