Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

No, I do not because he leaves it after voting, does not listen and will not engage with us. I have engaged with the Minister over the years and I thank him for coming to Tipperary. I am not saying he should know everything about rural Ireland or that I should know everything about Dublin, because I do not. It is a broad brief. Money, however, is being wasted. The Minister railed against quangos but the quangos he has under his remit, including the RSA and others, are bloated. The Minister railed against them all his life but is now defending them. He is providing €1.5 million for consultants to examine the logistics for rural travel. This is a patent and disgraceful waste of money. This expenditure should be raised at the Committee of Public Accounts, and I might raise it with it. A further €500,000 is proposed for incidentals. Money is flush in this Department. I know the Minister does not have a driver and he is prudent in that regard, but what about the waste that is going on under his nose? It is scandalous.

The proposal of a paltry €460,000 would not manage the system, never mind run it.