Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I have to dispute virtually every single thing the Minister of State has just said. I know this area has just moved into his Department. The State has paid out billions of euro with virtually no transparency. There have been increasing reports of companies with no track record at all being awarded contracts to the tunes of millions of euro. A recent report concerned a company that had been awarded a contract to provide 277 beds for IPAS applicants at Dundrum, County Tipperary. The company, which is named Utmasta Limited and was set up three months ago with one director who is based in Majorca, is set to be paid millions of euro of Irish taxpayers' money. Does that make sense to the Minister of State? Has that contract been reviewed to ascertain how this could come about? To give some reassurance, can the Minister of State point to any instance where an IPAS contract has been withdrawn or cancelled as a result of any of the checks and balances that he has outlined here today?

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