Kevin Moran (Longford-Westmeath, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their contributions to the important debate on value for money in public expenditure. I agree that there has been a comprehensive and robust discussion. I thank the Deputies for proposing this debate and giving me the opportunity to assure the people of Ireland that the Government has put value for money at the heart of decisions on public expenditure by listing out some of the comprehensive frameworks that public bodies are obliged to follow and implement.

Following on from the Minister's remarks, I would like to emphasise again, on behalf of the Government, that the Government condemns the waste of public money and ensures frameworks are in place to provide the necessary accountability and oversight in respect of public spending. The Government amendment counteracts the narrative being put forward by the Opposition that the Government, over recent years, has not been putting oversight and accountability at the heart of expenditure and management. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is a wide range of frameworks that public bodies must follow to ensure value for money and accountability at the highest level.

The Government, in its expenditure, has provided a robust response to the challenges faced by our country, including ensuring value for money is achieved in delivering on the expansion of services. This is a priority of the Government. In order to protect our economy and people, sensible choices were made in budget 2025, allowing growth in a sustainable way, investing in a better future and providing a sustainable approach to the environment.

As mentioned by the Minister in his contribution to the debate, the Government continues to invest in important public services and provides value for money, including through the expansion of health services, increases in core social welfare allowances, increased investment in housing, and the expansion of the hot school meals programme.

Investing in infrastructure is a critical component in supporting Ireland's growth and delivering better, fit-for-purpose public services. The increased capital expenditure in budget 2025 continues to deliver on the national development plan, which provides the vital infrastructure we need to support the future economy and meet social requirements and our climate change commitments. As Minister of State in the office of the OPW, I know of the benefits to communities and the relief felt by people in local rural communities across Ireland regarding flood works. On Friday, I look forward to meeting the people of Crossmolina, County Mayo, to mark the beginning of the construction of long-awaited €13.5 million flood works for the River Deel. This will protect the town from the effects of climate change.

That said, I recognise the delivery of capital projects has been challenged by a number of significant factors in recent years, including the continued impact of construction inflation on projects; labour shortages, particularly in the construction sector; and the ongoing delays in getting projects through the planning system. The Government approved a number of priority actions to improve the delivery of the national development plan projects, including the introduction of infrastructural guidelines in December 2023, and to reduce the administrative burden on Departments charged with infrastructure delivery. These actions will boost the delivery of critical infrastructure in a sustainable and cost-effective manner. Examples are the approximately 300 schools building projects annually and BusConnects. In my constituency, I welcomed recently developments in relation to the upgrading of the N4 for the people of Longford-Westmeath.

I acknowledge the diligent, comprehensive investigation by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General and its staff in fulfilling its constitutional duty to provide annual reports on public services of the highest quality, based on the office's investigation into the efficiency of public expenditure under section 9 of the Comptroller and Auditor General Act 1993. It would be an unnecessary waste of public moneys to duplicate this work of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General by using the private sector.

The Government has put in place a framework over many years to ensure value for money is achieved, as well as a number of public sector professional services to assist public bodies in delivering value for money. However, agreements and guidelines are required to be developed as a result of the investigations by the Comptroller and Auditor General and continue to be developed where there has been a waste of public money.

A lot has come up today. The debate started off with a critique of the public sector from Independent Ireland. During the general election campaign, which is not that long ago, they talked about a Luas for every town in Ireland. They came in here today and established an Elon Musk-type approach of killing the system and the people, the very people who are providing for this country. A lot of the talk about the OPW refers to the Hill of Tara. People love social media, love to go out, and love to stand and take pictures of themselves. They talk about a wall having been built for the past 12 years. The OPW is not building a wall at the Hill of Tara; it is carrying out maintenance work on a wall at the Hill of Tara. It might have gone on for 12 years and it might go on for another 12, but the Hill of Tara never closed. It was open to business for everybody to enjoy-----

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