Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad of the opportunity to speak on the motion on the spending of public funds by the Government. There is no doubt this Government has mishandled the spending of public funds on so many occasions and too many to list. However, that the cost of the national children’s hospital has now risen to in excess of €2 billion is outrageous. I remember Mick Wallace, when he was a Member of this House in 2014 and 2015, saying the cost of the children’s hospital would run to more than €2 billion and he was laughed at. The Government said there was no way that would happen. Here we are today and he has been proved right. It is without doubt the biggest misuse of public funds in the history of the State and this Government should be ashamed of the fact that children in desperate need of life-saving healthcare are being forced to wait years to see its completion. Yet the Taoiseach has the audacity to claim the overspend had nothing to do with him despite him being Minister for Health between 2016 and 2020 and despite the fact he is the one who signed the contract for the hospital as Minister for Health in 2019. The hospital is turning out to be one of the world’s most expensive hospitals and one of the world’s most expensive buildings while children struggle to get basic services. It is an absolute disgrace.

Despite this, the Government claims in its amendment to this motion that the Opposition is making baseless accusations regarding the mismanagement of public funds. There is a long history and many examples of this Government’s mismanagement of funds and the public is very aware of this. Many do not trust this Government’s ability to handle public funds and invest in much-needed services, and who can blame them. The Government, in its amendment, claims it is investing significantly in mental health services and CAMHS when we know the allocation announced in the budget was not nearly enough to ensure adequate services. It claims it is providing housing while more than 14,000 people are homeless in this country and hundreds of people in Donegal watch as houses continue to crumble year after year because the Government refuses to introduce an adequate defective block scheme. It claims it is providing sufficient school funding while teachers tell us they need more support, more special needs assessments and smaller class sizes. The Government can dress its failures up all it wants but people can see through its spin. People know this mismanagement of funds will continue and nothing has changed or ever will change under Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The people deserve a Government that works for them, that invests in public services, and that prioritises people over vulture funds, big corporations, private contractors and profit. That is what the people should aim for.

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