Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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From the time that it was first intimated that there would be a ring road in Galway, the project has cost in excess of €20 million. It cost that much for plans and for everybody to have their say but we have nothing except that a defunct organisation called An Bord Pleanála overturned the decision.

Last week, I made a speech in the Dáil about regulation and regulation has been mentioned here today. To my mind, regulators in this country are appointment by the Government in order that the Government and the politicians in government are once removed from having to be accountable. They instead put in a regulator. Consequently, we have an energy regulator that could not foresee the energy crisis. We have an aviation regulator that could not foresee the crisis at Dublin Airport. I am well known for commenting on how the Office of the Planning Regulator does its business. We have a planning regulator who clearly could not identify the difficulties in An Bord Pleanála until they were published by an online magazine or another media outlet. In terms of value for money, how much will all these defunct regulators cost the State? In the case of An Bord Pleanála, I assume that at some point we are going to have huge legal fees on top of the ones that we already have incurred, which are upwards of €20 million for the failed strategic housing development, SHD, process.

I struggle to identify what the €50 million spent on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform does, so please explain. Perhaps €500 million has been saved but we have spent it already with defunct regulatory organisations. Has the Secretary General any act or part to play in advising the Government to get rid of or stop appointing lame ducks?