Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This Bill is required so that spending that happened in 2022 is sanctioned and legislated for, and so the spending in 2023 can happen. I am very concerned that there has been a huge amount of money, €673 million, not spent this year and similar last year. Can the Minister, Deputy McGrath, honestly look in the faces of the people at the moment and tell them that €673 million was not spent this year and similar last year? These are the people who are going cold, the people who are going hungry, the people who have no housing. Can the Minister honestly look at them, and all of the people who are paying extra taxes on inflated fuel costs because the Government took 50% on fuel taxes? Can the Minister honestly tell them now he has €673 million he did not spend? Yet the Government made them suffer and the Government will make them suffer this Christmas. How did the Government get it so wrong? The Government has never had as much money in its coffers as it does now. There is wasting of money by the Government and yet it still has €673 million unspent. There are men, women and children throughout this country who are going cold and hungry, yet the Government has this money that has not been spent. I just cannot believe it. It is not often I am stuck for words but, for once in my life, now I am stuck for words when it comes to this.

It is bad enough the Government would bring Members up here on Saturday on the last weekend before Christmas when most charities around Ireland go out to collect money for vulnerable people. Yet the Government will spend thousands upon thousands of euro of taxpayers' money bringing Deputies and staff from across the country to Dublin to open up the Dáil on the last weekend before Christmas. It is a weekend when people and vulnerable people look for help to fundraise in our own areas. Yet the Government wants us to come here to have a big hurrah on something that could be done on a weekday. They are spending more of the taxpayers' money and laughing at the people who are wondering where their next bite of food is coming from. They are wondering where the next drop of kerosene or coal is coming from to heat their houses while the Government has come up with a charade this weekend, costing more taxpayers' money, laughing at the vulnerable people.

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