Albert Dolan (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I sincerely wish the Cathaoirleach the very best of luck in his role as Chair of the public accounts committee. It is probably not the easiest committee to chair but I sincerely wish him the best. He can be assured that my Fianna Fáil colleagues and I will work with everyone in this room for the betterment of this country and our public finances.

I am honoured to be appointed to this committee as a chartered accountant and as someone who served in practice and audit. I sincerely thank our Comptroller and Attorney General and everyone at the office for the work they do to allow us the opportunity to scrutinise. At the end of the day, preparing 285 sets of financial statements and ensuring they are audited effectively and efficiently is not an easy job and I thank them for that.

What is disappointing for us as a committee is that it is always after the fact. We are always here to scrutinise and criticise potentially ill-thought-out decisions or systems that have failed. Our role is more important now than it has ever been. We are in a time of huge global uncertainty and while our public finances remain strong, what could lay before us is incredibly concerning. Our role to ensure value for money is vital.

There is a fantastic website called whereyourmoneygoes.gov.ie. A quick glance at it would show that, in 2019, €77 billion was expended by the State. In 2025, we are set to spend €120 billion. I was elected to Galway County Council in 2019 and I cannot say that, five or six years later, we are spending the money much better. I understand that inflation takes its toll but we have spent more on consultants and outsourcing decision-making in the past five years than on getting actual projects done. I firmly believe that, collectively, we need to push for action, speed and delivery and to ensure that people in positions to make decisions are not outsourcing their decision-making but are taking these decisions on.

I look forward to putting together the programme for work.

I am excited to be on this committee. I hope that we can impact the future of this country and the trajectory we take.