Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

To correct the record, we went in to meet the Taoiseach and Tánaiste and put a policy document in front of them. When we talked about trying to save the agricultural sector from a carbon tax, others decided to sign up to it. We talked about freezing it and perhaps putting it on aeroplane travel. People can decide whether to go on holidays but cannot decide whether to go to work 30 or 40 miles from where they live. Others decided they would let people suffer in that way. That was the reason we were not brought into government, just to put the record straight.

Everyone in the Opposition and the Government believes that the better and more efficiently we can do something, the more services, social housing and buildings we can supply around this country for the people who need them. Those people are our constituents around the country.

I welcome the announcement in respect of Crossmolina. The Minister of State and I were there in 2015 or 2016. I am sure he will agree. He and I went down there between 2016 and 2020 and that is too long for those people to live at risk. There are stumbling blocks to getting a job done efficiently. I am sure the Minister of State will agree that is a major problem in this country when compared with other countries. Why does it cost €3,000 or €4,000 per sq. m to build an apartment in Ireland when it costs €1,000 in Spain? The apartment might not be as fancy or particular, but there is a woeful difference in that price if you are trying to get value for money. That is what we are on about.

A few speakers referred to Elon Musk. He must be watching Irish television. In January 2024, which is 14 months ago, that lad had never been heard of. He was building cars at the time. We had these proposals in our document of what we were on about. It is not about scrapping every NGO. The first thing we said was that those working in the health service do great work. Should anybody have a problem if they are being reviewed to see if they are getting enough money or too much money? Take the housing sector. How many housing bodies do we have in this country? The Government had to go into its arse pocket and pull out €14 million or €15 million when a housing body was getting enough money. Are we saying that everything is hunky-dory? We are saying it is not hunky-dory that there is no accountability. We need the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Department of public expenditure and reform to do their jobs. There are great civil servants and no one is criticising them. However, if they were doing their jobs, would we have a children's hospital going the way it is going? We need the hospital and no one is denying that, but it is an open book. Ironically enough, everyone is asking if we are having a go at civil servants when it would be a private company that would get less money if we were looking at it and things were done more efficiently.

Do we not agree that every builder who is building houses should be able to tender for social housing? The fact is that if you did not build a social house in the past five years, you cannot tender for a State job. Is that the right way of doing things or should we be allowing more builders to tender? Are we saying that the people who lay thousands of kilometres of pipes with the county council in group water schemes are not fit to lay an Irish Water pipe? Should they be allowed? Would that make things better? Should they be allowed to tender? My God, I think they should. That is how we get more efficiency around the country. Ministers cannot micro-watch or micromanage smaller projects. This is about having trust. It is about having balances and checks. That is why we are seeking an oversight body with expertise to watch the situation. We are not calling for cut after cut. We are seeking better value for money for all the different people around the country.

I ask this Government to look at what we are on about. Everyone refers to America, NGOs and whatever else. We need to do an overview. Do you know what? I do not think anyone who is doing a job efficiently would have anything to worry about. All Deputies are aware that if county councils have not spent their budgets towards the end of the year, they have to get rid of it or they get less money the following year. Why do we not look at value per kilometre for roads they do and give them more if they are very efficient? Those are the things we need to do under the likes of this motion.

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