Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

I wish to share time with Deputies Ó Caoláin, McHugh, Catherine Murphy, James Breen, Finian McGrath and Connolly.

My party and I will support the motion on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. It is predictable that the members of the Government parties have chosen to argue that Members have no right to raise this report and that the issues will be dealt with in the Committee of Public Accounts. As a member of that committee, with Deputies Fleming and Burton, I accept this argument to some extent.

The terms of reference of the Committee of Public Accounts specifically preclude the debating of policy issues. This House should have an open debate every year on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General so that those issues can be discussed in a way they cannot be discussed in the Committee of Public Accounts.

This year's litany of over-expenditure is linked to flawed policy making. This is evident in the way the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, now Tánaiste, and his Department has handled the purchase of Thornton Hall. It is also evident with reference to the national coastline survey. The Department of Education and Science, as represented by the Minister for State, has allowed people to walk away with payments which are more than their entitlements. These are justifiable questions that must be asked in the public interest.

The new Tánaiste must answer questions. He talks about a smaller State and about the interests of the taxpayer but in office he has shown himself to be far too willing to spend taxpayers' money recklessly. The issue of Thornton Hall will be one of the main considerations of the work of the Committee of Public Accounts this year.

It is unfortunate that this debate in its political context must be made with the political Minister of each Department. The structure of the Committee of Public Accounts allows members of the committee to ask questions of the Accounting Officers, the Secretary General of each Department. This provides information on the efficiency of the administration of the Departments. However, Members of this House need to challenge Ministers on how public money is being expended. This year's report of the Comptroller and Auditor General represents a litany of such mistakes which is an unfortunate characteristic of the Government.

Deputy Fleming concluded his contribution by berating the Opposition for not contributing in a proper manner to the Estimates process. That is unfortunate because Deputy Fleming is a very valued member of the Committee of Public Accounts and is generally a very effective Chairman of the Select Committee on Finance and the Public Service. He must not have read the recommendations of the report of the Committee of Public Accounts which dealt with the way in which the Estimates are structured and the ineffective manner in which the Legislature examines the expenditure of public moneys on a year to year basis. The initial report produced by Deputy Rabbitte when he was a member of the Committee of Public Accounts referred to the Estimates procedure for the Department of Health and Children and the expenditure of €13 billion being dealt with in a session lasting 90 minutes or so. When we account for that type of expenditure to the people we represent, they will not take seriously the work of this Legislature or its committees. They will not regard it as an effective job in monitoring how public money is raised and expended.

The motion refers to recommendations made by the two parties supporting the motion and there is much that is worthy of consideration in the report they produced. The remedy of misspent public fund moneys is not the wherewithal of any one political party or any combination of political parties and that is certainly the case in the combination of political parties making up the Government.

I commend the limited opportunity offered to Members to discuss this report. I challenge the Government to get its act together and ensure that in the future this House has a full and open debate on the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General.

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