Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I may be sharing time with my colleagues if they arrive. As we know, the Appropriation Bill is pivotal financial legislation. It is on the horizon and carries the weight of Ireland's fiscal decisions. As the end of the year approaches, the legislation serves a dual role, providing legal backing to the 2023 expenditure and authorising the capital carryover of funding from 2023 to 2024. That is a very important mechanism. It is very important that we deal with these issues in the House.

The Minister is gone like snow off a ditch. He is so disrespectful to our group. He is the fellow who wants to be European Commissioner. With the report cards from the different watchdogs, the fiscal council, the OECD and everybody else, it is back to school he should be going - national school. The Government thinks we can play these games with the financial situation especially with the HSE being short €2 billion. It has been described as a three-card trick by one of the watchdogs. They have cut the massive runaway budget in health. It is unbelievable to be short by €2 billion ever before the budget was even brought in.

We have infrastructure projects up and down the country. The N24 was to have been upgraded to become the M24. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, who is the Minister of State's colleague, did not want it at all. He now wants to build a pony-and-cart road, going back to a single carriageway like 100 years ago. It is the same with every project in rural Ireland. Water schemes like the one in Clonmel will need to wait another 15 years. We are told it will be 2030 or 2035 before we have a project with water from the river.

The Government has money for everything - manna from heaven - and all it wants to do is play games with it. The three-card trick, tomfoolery I call the way it is dealing with money here. You think the people are stupid, but the people know what is going on, the watchdogs know what is going on and thankfully they are now speaking out about how you are dealing with these budgetary issues. It is shocking that you can announce budgets with no money to back them up and promise everything with the spin-doctors regurgitating everything else.

You are demonising the farmers when it comes to water pollution. In actual fact, I would say that 90% of the pollution is caused by local authorities, other public authorities and some industries. The Environmental Protection Agency is negligent in its duties because it will not look there and instead goes after the farmers and demonises them. The three-card trick, the four-card trick and all the tricks you want to play are just not good enough. We need to get accountability in here. Thankfully we have a debate on this legislation, albeit short. We do not have debates normally. It is just pass the figures and away you go with a wink and a nod. You should hang your heads in shame. If you are thinking of sending the Minister for public expenditure out to Brussels to represent us, God help us and God help Ireland. With the three-card tricks, he cannot face questions or criticism here. He has the arrogance and pomposity to tell us we do not know anything and he knows it all. He will find out in Europe. They will find him out before he even arrives there.

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