Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

I asked the Minister two questions. Does the Government take responsibility for the scandalous waste and lack of accountability and proper management I have set out?

By way of response, the Minister reached for everyone else bar the Government. He should attribute this waste to those who are in the accommodation. That is simply not an accurate reflection. That is not what the Comptroller and Auditor General found. What the Comptroller and Auditor General has found is utter incompetence and an incredibly cavalier attitude by the Minister's Government. What the failures in due diligence and compliance actually mean, just to decode it, is that the Government has created a golden opportunity for people to turn a fast buck courtesy of the Irish taxpayer.

I ask the Minister again to take responsibility for this situation. Will there be a review of every IPAS contract? I fear that what the Comptroller and Auditor General has revealed - as shocking as it is - is only a fraction of what has actually been going on. The Irish taxpayer wants to know whether the Government has played fast and loose with billions and billions of their hard-earned money.

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