Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I thank all those who contributed to this debate over the past two nights. In particular, I thank our spokesperson, Deputy Burton, and the Fine Gael Party for co-sponsoring the motion.

It has been an important and valuable debate. Indeed, it is regrettable that the annual report of the Comptroller and Auditor General is not debated as a matter of course in the House each year. I know that the Committee of Public Accounts will now deal on a weekly basis with the detailed findings in the report but the conclusions and recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General are of vital interest to all Members of the House, who should have the opportunity to speak on them

By any standards the 2004 report is a shocking document, containing, as it does, a long list of cases where the Government has simply failed to exert proper management over the spending of public funds or to ensure that taxpayers got value for their money.

An equally important area of the report — one that perhaps did not got the attention it merited — was the further evidence it provided of continuing massive tax evasion by a number of mainly very wealthy people. In my experience most hard-working families accept the need to pay tax. They may not be enthusiastic about it, but they accept it is necessary in order to provide for the range of public services on which we all depend.

There are two aspects that infuriate ordinary PAYE taxpayers. One is the realisation that while they are willing to pay their fair share, there are others who are willing to use every device — legal and illegal — to avoid making their contribution. Apart from the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the list of tax defaulters published every quarter by the Revenue Commissioners shows that despite amnesties, efforts to close loopholes and promises of clampdowns, there is still no shortage of people prepared to take a chance and evade paying the tax they owe.

The other aspect that infuriates compliant taxpayers is the realisation that the euros, for which they worked so hard and which disappear each week or month from their pay cheques, end up being squandered. Indeed, any taxpayer who takes time out to read this year's report from the Comptroller and Auditor General can only react with blind fury at the litany of botched projects, management failures and examples of sheer incompetence revealed.

The response of the various Ministers who have spoken in this debate has been quite revealing. The response of the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, was surreal. The attitude seems to be, "What are you getting so excited about? We have loads of money." The response of the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, on RTE radio this morning was a typical example. He stated that the €166 million blown on the PPARS project was relatively small compared to the €41 billion Government budget. There we are. What is €166 million between a few extravagant Ministers? On second thoughts, I suppose that this attitude is not all that surprising, coming as it did from the father of the botched electronic voting system and virtually the last person in the country still prepared to go out and defend one of the greatest white elephants in the political history of the State.

The tale of the HSE computer system that does not work despite more than €150 million having been spent on it is just the latest, but also perhaps the most stark, example of the extraordinarily cavalier approach on the part of the Government to the waste of taxpayers' money. Full political responsibility for this waste rests with the three Ministers who have held the health portfolio while this saga was allowed develop. Why did the Ministers and their myriad advisers fail to exercise any supervision or control over this project? Why did nobody shout stop as the costs climbed and climbed?

Nor can the various Ministers be allowed to pass the buck on to the Health Service Executive. This waste of money has its origins in decisions made well before the HSE was established. In addition, the HSE is the creation of the current Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. If the HSE structure is proved inadequate, then she must bear political responsibility.

The scale of the waste involved in this case beggars belief. The Taoiseach was correct this morning, of course, when he said that €166 million would not build Tallaght Hospital nowadays but it would do a great deal. It would build a small to medium sized hospital. It would ensure the completion of Mullingar Hospital. It could provide an additional 150,000 full medical cards or it could ensure that everyone who needs a home help can get one.

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