Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

Calling it correcting homework is an understatement. I think the Tánaiste knows that, given that we could literally spend a full day with a litany of examples of overspending and waste across the whole range of the delivery of public services. Inertia, waste and blame-shifting are the characteristics of this Government. These are serious issues. Why? It is not only because it is incinerating taxpayers' money, but because these are really important public services and infrastructure that are simply not materialising for the people who need them. The Committee of Public Accounts heard this morning that BAM is only 60% through the progress it had promised to be even at this late stage. The committee heard that all the levers were being pushed to make the contractor deliver on this project, but what levers are there? What mechanisms are in the contract the Tánaiste signed off on to force the contractor to deliver these projects within the timescale and the price? There are none. The fact that there are none is because the Tánaiste, as a very well-paid Minister for Health, did not ensure they were there.

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