Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

The Minister's role is to represent and defend the policies of his Government but he has spent 20 minutes criticising RTE, defending himself and criticising the Opposition. All that was required was simply to allow the Committee of Public Accounts or the Comptroller and Auditor General to examine this matter. We were told that because the deal was not finalised, we could not examine it until the money was spent and wasted. This represents a slap in the face for the Committee of Public Accounts and this House. The Government has shown no regard for the concerns of the public, those listening in the Gallery in particular. The proposed new prison is located miles from my home — I have no particular interest in that regard — but I contend it is a scandalous waste of money by the Minister. Moreover, he is afraid to permit the only form of independent scrutiny available in these matters.

This debate is useless unless we allow for some transparent mechanism of scrutiny. However, it serves to bring into focus the necessity that this type of issue should never arise in future. That is the only contribution I will make to this debate. It is unfair of the Government to lecture RTE and Opposition Members without providing any transparent way for the public to examine how this money was spent. It should never happen again.

See this speech in context