Dáil debates

Tuesday, 12 February 2019

Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Bill 2017: Second Stage [Private Members]

 

10:00 pm

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank all contributors to this evening's debate. I note the support from all sides of the House, bar the Government side, which has decided to abstain. I will address some of the points made by the only two Government Members who spoke, namely, the Ministers of State, Deputies D'Arcy and Kehoe. The Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, stated there is a "well established framework of accountability, responsibility and control in operation at each level." That was an unfortunate statement to make today of all days. We are bringing forward amending legislation on the role of the Comptroller and Auditor General who, as I stated, has independent expertise at his disposal which can help and assist the Government at no extra cost, despite the contention made by Government speakers.

The Government argues that the Bill does not appear to provide any additional powers for the Comptroller and Auditor General, while also contending that there may be a cost to the Exchequer if it is enacted. That is a contradiction. It indicates to me in no uncertain terms that the Government has interpreted and considered the Bill in a flippant manner and has not gone into any great detail in offering a view contrary to the views expressed by Fianna Fáil Deputies and other Opposition Deputies in this debate. I acknowledge Sinn Féin's recognition of our intentions and the basis on which we have proposed the Bill. In doing so, it also agreed with the Bill, as did other speakers.

We want to increase accountability and transparency across Government. Government speakers also said that for a Minister to instruct the Comptroller and Auditor General to intervene and analyse and scrutinise a capital development project and the costs associated with it where they exceed the initially envisaged cost would in some way interfering with the independence of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General. I find that very hard to comprehend, especially in the week and day that is in it.

I would be more impressed if it were the intention of Government to reflect on this Bill, especially if it is passed by the Dáil, and improve it, especially at it is as plain as the nose on one's face that the State has at its disposal machinery that would allow for an independent assessment of capital projects. It should not leave us in the current predicament where we have abysmal mismanagement of the new children's hospital and we are floundering as we seek to find out what impact this will have on other projects. It is not yet clear from what I have heard from the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform what cutbacks will take place as a result of this. For example, on the A5 road project, he stated that, even allowing for the problems and difficulties with the Northern Ireland Assembly unfortunately not being in place, it may be the end of this year before the €27 million in funding can be drawn down. It will not be a cut from this year's Exchequer allocation if it comes at the end of the year.

In the event that the Government is not forthcoming with information, the Dáil, especially this side of the House, will insist that the Government provide Members of this House and, by association, their constituents with details of what projects and communities will be at a loss in respect of the initial commitments given by the Government when its members travelled the country with a series of roadshows. It is now unable to have one roadshow to tell us exactly where we stand. It is not only the funding of projects this year that we are worried about because it is not as if the Government can move this expenditure from one year to another and the sum involved will end up supposedly being only €100 million.

The Government made commitments to the tune of almost €500 million that will now have to be reprofiled, as the Taoiseach said.

I am conscious of the commitment the same Taoiseach gave to us and, more importantly, to the nation when he spoke on national radio last Sunday week. He said that within ten days everybody would be aware of the implications of the knock-on effects on the capital development programme. The Office of Public Works, OPW, which appears to have been more forthcoming than others at this stage, says that €3 million will come from the flood relief scheme. As a representative who is probably affected by that, I will insist on knowing what schemes and projects in the flood relief scheme will be affected and will not go ahead despite the commitment given by the Government last year and previously regarding the funding that was to be provided in that regard. That will play out in the coming days, as it should. It would be expected of us to extract that from the Government.

As I said, one of the main lessons from how the Government responded to this fiasco and the colossal overspend was that it immediately rushed to the private sector to get it to carry out an analysis and relevant scrutiny. There are many other demanding projects in the offing, as other Members have mentioned, not the least of which is the broadband programme. Many billions will be expended on that and there is great expectation on the part of the public that it will ensure broadband is available to every house. If it is available at a cost, we need to know it and to know that there are processes in place to ensure the taxpayers' interest is protected. If it were the case that there was an indication of an overrun at a certain point, this legislation would allow the Comptroller and Auditor General's office to use its expertise to analyse and scrutinise that to see how such a cost overrun could be arrested.

Another aspect of the national children's hospital debacle is that it appears the initial contract provided for a cost of construction inflation of at least 4% year on year. That did not stop it going to 8% if that is what presented, which is what happened. As Deputy Fleming said, the initial rush to get on site on the part of those with responsibility in this area was purely to meet their aspirations for political advancement, at the fault of not having proper and adequate processes to ensure that any subsequent contract could be tight, protect the interests of taxpayers, ensure their funds were spent wisely and appropriately, and delivered on the commitment that was made initially. We are all interested in this, and many previous Governments have been driven by the desire to put that facility in place and to ensure children are afforded the best possible care, attention and service from the State from a health perspective. That is not diminished in any way by our commentary. We merely make it in the best interests of ensuring that other projects that were committed to can be delivered, be they in Waterford, my constituency or elsewhere. Real commitments were made by the Government, which has taxpayers' funds at its disposal and which should not use thrift with that spending or responsibility for its political gain. That is all we wish to ensure.

We are not interested in heads or in playing political games. As we all know, there are bigger pictures at play. We cannot stand idly by in this jurisdiction when chaos reigns in Westminster and, unfortunately, in the North. The Good Friday Agreement and its contents were hard fought for and hard won but, thankfully, were delivered to give the potential for the type of democracy in the North that there is in other jurisdictions. However, our colleagues in Sinn Féin are part of an unfortunate world record at this stage in respect of not taking their seats. It is a disease they cannot seem to rid themselves of, and that is unfortunate as it is not just at their expense but at the expense of all of us. It is at the expense of this island's prosperity and its potential to succeed economically and socially. More importantly, from our perspective the Good Friday Agreement has the potential to protect our security, and that is paramount. We will not use this unfortunate mismanagement and almost misappropriation of funds for political gain. We think too much of those who give us the privilege to be here to do that. That continues to be the raison d'êtrefor us. We are committed to this country being united in its efforts to respond to that challenge. Obviously, a united Government and united Dáil are essential to ensure the people can rest assured that the commitment is real and meaningful.

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