Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ministers of State for their contributions. I note, as highlighted by the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, that the Government does not oppose this Bill. That is to be welcomed, but it would be better if the Government said it would support this Bill. Perhaps we will get to that stage. It is important to highlight the value of debate. This is probably one of the more interesting debates I have heard in this House since I came here, not because I am involved in it but because it is relevant to every Deputy and elected official. It is about the fair and transparent allocation of State resources and fairness in per capita spending. Several points were highlighted by other Deputies, of which I will share a few.

Deputy Harkin made the point that no one is looking for more than their fair share. It is an important principle that we should all acknowledge.

Deputy Fitzpatrick highlighted the problems of Drogheda and Dundalk being so close to Dublin yet not getting a fair allocation of housing resources or flood defence moneys.

My Regional Group colleagues Deputies Canney and Grealish spoke at length about the problems in Galway and the mid-west, particularly the ring roads needed, transport infrastructure and the lack of equitable spending in the western region.

Deputy Shortall brought up the issue of MetroLink in Dublin. We can all agree that as a modern, cosmopolitan city, Dublin should have a MetroLink to the airport. The shocking scandal of a project 23 years in development, on which €300 million has been spent at this stage - a large amount of it wasted - should not be lost on anybody. While all that money was being contributed and circulated, was anybody aware of how it was being spent?

Deputy McGrath and others spoke about the national children's hospital. I do not want to criticise the project because it is ongoing but how we ended up, in a country of 5 million people, building the most expensive health infrastructure anywhere in the world is beyond belief. It points to a complete and utter failing in procurement, oversight and governance, especially by the Minister regarding accountability.

There has been a lot of hot air about the strategic infrastructure to which we aspire since I came to this Chamber. Yet, Deputy Tóibín highlighted that only seven turbines have been delivered offshore in the past 20 years. Three and a half years into the lifetime of this Dáil, we are still on the cusp of developing the State agency, MARA, to oversee planning and development of our foreshore and offshore asset allocations. This Bill speaks to all of those matters.

Deputy Berry and other colleague in the Regional Group pointed out the need, as was the case previously, for IDA Ireland advance factories to be built in the regions in order to set them up for FDI. Those projects have stalled. I am lucky to say that County Waterford received an IDA Ireland advance factory in the past number of years but we need more. If I went around all Deputies, they would say the same thing.

This Bill speaks to what Deputy Ó Murchú, I think, captured well. It speaks to due diligence, budgetary oversight, accountability and a fair allocation of resources. That captures it exactly. I highlight Deputy Conway-Walsh's comments regarding the public spending code, which were very salient. She outlined that no Department technical reviews have been possible because it is to be farmed out to the private sector. This might come up in further debate on this Bill on Committee Stage.

I refer to my background as to why I feel this Bill is important.

People have highlighted the allocation of resources throughout the country, but particularly the deficits that occur in the south east, the midlands, the Border counties and the north west. This is historic. I remember a capital tracker in 2014 when the State allocation was €3 billion. When I looked at that capital tracker to try to understand where the south-east region was, €90 million of that €3 billion was allocated to it. Of that, approximately €24 million was allocated to a large water treatment plant in County Waterford. I would be first to agree that clean water is absolutely a part of strategic infrastructure and is something that helps economic development, but €90 million from a spend of €3 billion for what is now 11% of the population is not fair or equitable. That cycle unfortunately gets repeated year on year. That is what has led to my frustration and that of those around me in trying to see a Bill crafted that would speak to trying to change that narrative.

The OECD report was also mentioned. It highlighted some time ago how poorly Ireland was doing in the context of parliamentary oversight of State budgetary analysis. This Bill also speaks to that matter. It speaks to handing back some small remnant of power to individual elected Members in order that they may question the Government. It is unfortunate that the look back period is five years. However, the stringent legal advice I received at the time was to the effect that any less would be opposed by the Government. I will say that if I were able to look at data from five, six or seven years ago I would quickly see a trail of where moneys have been allocated. Deputy McNamara highlighted that his constituency did well while it had a sitting Minister. It is true that the preponderance of moneys being spent at the moment, more than €14 billion this year, will be allocated largely to the regions of Dublin and Cork. That reflects the political patronage enjoyed at Cabinet, which is something that also needs to change.

The Minister of State also mentioned the Government's stance on providing new oversight. In 2020, the tracker she highlighted, the Where Your Money Goes website and so on showed just €31 million of spending in Waterford from a budget of €5.2 billion visible in the pipeline. I brought these issues to the Taoiseach's attention in the Dáil some weeks ago. I told him that we were not getting a fair share in the south east region. He said two things that I thought were important. He said that nobody is entitled to any money, as such, in this State; it is all based on projects. That speaks to those State resources that are applied to project development. There are some local councils and Departments in this country that are good at having off-the-shelf projects ready to go and that seem to fall into place just when money becomes available. By the same token, there are some that are not. I will highlight to the Minister of State a single, simple spend for her to analyse. In July this year, the State decided to give an exceptional capital grant of €650 million to the nine model 4 hospitals in this country. That was a fair chunk of money. University Hospital Waterford, the most efficient hospital in the country, was amazingly excluded from that €650 million. It has had no capital projects outside of one building, which was largely financed by the private sector and the public in Waterford. I questioned the HSE about it. I was told that despite management telling me and other Waterford representatives the year before that all of the paperwork was in place, and the projects were approved, that the Department came back and said paperwork had not been submitted in time to be allocated money. To me, that is totally unethical and lacks transparency. That is a simple example of what this Bill seeks to push back against.

We can talk long, hard and fast in this State and Parliament-----

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