Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not think anybody would argue that there is a need for a children's hospital but I doubt anybody would agree that we need to spend close to €2 billion providing it. Our country has paid a high price for repeatedly stuffing up its finances. Our methods of oversight are not up to the task and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, as good as it is, is no match for the scale and ambition of and responsibilities relating to public expenditure. We will be back in the ha'penny place very shortly if we fritter away this public money on political codology and strokes.

An OECD study of budget oversight by the Oireachtas published in 2000 said we - as in Oireachtas Members - did not engage with the budget in a meaningful or impactful way. We still need better budgeting procedures and information. In 500 days or so, the Taoiseach will handle over his office to another person. I offer him the advice that instituting proper reporting on sectoral and regional spending would be an enduring legacy. I ask the Taoiseach to investigate actions that can deliver such a legacy of equity and fairness to the Irish people, particularly those who live in the south east.

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