Shane McEntee (Meath, Fine Gael)

The theme of today's Dáil debates was money. All day, we listened to somebody who had no money and now we are discussing somebody who had money but did not know how to spend it. The person in the best position of all is the Minister for Finance, who discovered today that we have lots of money. We have just heard the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, speak about all that has been done. The Minister for Finance might consider sending a few euro to east County Meath to build a few schools for the children of the area or a hospital for their parents and the Slane bypass might be put on the Minister for Transport's desk now rather than leaving it until 2008.

The manner in which money was obtained by individuals in this House and the way in which money was spent on buying a farm in north County Dublin as a prison site were both wrong. The farm was valued at €6 million and would be worth a maximum of €8.9 million if it was zoned, which was unlikely given that it lay on the borders of County Meath. The Government ended up paying an extra €15 million for it, money which could have gone a long way in other areas if it was not improperly spent.

I have only been here for 15 months but I learned a great deal last week. Certain matters have not changed since I was a young fellow. The Government sent a man to north County Dublin to pick out a farm and told him not to ask for more than €200,000 per acre but the deal had to be signed regardless of what was found. In ten years' time this issue will come before another tribunal inquiring into the scandalous waste of taxpayers' money. How can we get these people, who say they have so much money, to carry out their duties properly?

No consideration has been given to the school adjacent to the site and we now believe there is no intention to change the direction of the road leading to it. In an emergency, how will we protect the children in that school? We should not think nice people will be living in that place because we have seen down the years the types of people who are incarcerated. They are in prison for a reason, and it is out of order to build a prison near a school. There is no infrastructure in terms of water, sewerage or roads in the area and the installation of these facilities will come at great expense merely to provide a prison for people who do not want to behave themselves. Why did those responsible for the purchase of these lands not manage the money properly? No farmer would put a premium on land he or she wanted to purchase.

Fair dues to the individual who received €30 million for the land. I have no grudge against him and hope the matter works out for him and his family. However, while it is clear that a prison requires to be built, why pick an area with very few people? The land is situated on the border of County Meath, so the Government thought the objectors would be divided. Fortunately, objections will be made because very good people live in the area and they have discovered the faults in the deal.

One enters politics in the hope that mistakes will not be repeated. This matter was probably one of the first I encountered and the manner by which it was addressed stinks to high heaven. I have no doubt that the truth will come out in ten years' time because it always does. I suppose there will be no going back but how much will it cost and why was the project not managed properly? Why do we have to end up before tribunals? Why can people not be straight? One does not enter politics for the job but to do a job.

As a nation, we had a good name internationally but we have destroyed that today with the prison and because we allowed this Government to continue. This prison should not be built. People should not throw in the towel but should fight because they know it is wrong. They know it is not right to build a prison beside a school and that €15 million is too much to spend on the site. The Members opposite never seem to admit when they are wrong, with the result that in ten years' time, we will be still fighting over tribunals. Both of the money matters discussed today were wrong. Those in positions of responsibility should not take money, and money belonging to the public should not be spent unwisely.

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