Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has raised a very important point with regard to accountability and value for money. Thankfully, the State, due to the hard work of the 2.75 million people in employment, is running a budget surplus. We continue to do that. We are investing in significant infrastructural projects and will continue to move forward projects such as metro north, as the Deputy mentioned, which is crucially important for the east coast region and Dublin in particular.

Yesterday, the Ceann Comhairle dealt with how we all feel about the example of really poor management and lack of accountability in regard to the now infamous bike shed on Merrion lawn. We all abhor that. It frustrates and angers people. It angers me, too. Certainly, we need accountability. I served five years as Vice Chairperson of the Committee of Public Accounts. I saw that committee do its job and I see the current committee do its job. It has the function of bringing people in and looking into, and being the watchdog on, expenditure. Every Department, as well as its Minister, Ministers of State and Secretary General, has responsibilities in the management of its budget. I cannot give the Deputy an answer directly in the particular example he raised as to who sanctioned it. I expect to hear that. We should know that. We should also know what process was followed and how in God's name someone thought that to spend €336,000 on a bike rack was something that would be permissible. No one in their right mind would actually think that. I take it as well that it is not just that one instance. It is an example of where people believe, in certain instances, that the hard-earned tax they have paid has been wasted. I believe in this instance it has been.

We need accountability. We have mechanisms within this House. We are all accountable as Teachtaí Dála to our constituents. We go up for election every four or five years and the people will vote for us or they will not. It is a democratic Chamber and a democratic Republic. Within the structures of the Civil Service, where expenditure like this is made and decisions like that are made, there has to be accountability. There is accountability to the House. The Ceann Comhairle has called for that. I expect that the Committee of Public Accounts will be involved and will discuss it. The chairperson of the OPW must be involved. There should be no secret on this. People deserve to know.

Regarding the provision of the children's hospital, it is a crucial piece of infrastructure for our children that will last for decades. There is no question that there has been a less than satisfactory history with regard to some of the expenditure on it but we need that facility. If we look back at how it was established in the first instance, how the contract was broken up led to the problems, including the ground works being done separately. That is my own belief. We need that facility opened. We need our kids to be looked after in a world-class facility, which it will be.

I support the Deputy in his call for accountability. No Deputy in this House would disagree with that.

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