Kathleen O'Meara (Labour)

Like other Senators on this side of the House, we in the Labour Party are appalled at this legislation and the extraordinary U-turn by the Government on commitments it gave to the Oireachtas and the people when the original Dormant Accounts Act 2001 was passed. That had the support of Oireachtas Members, not surprisingly, considering that it set up a system whereby dormant accounts were to be disbursed in a fair and independent fashion. The Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, referred to that, even saying the money should be independently disbursed so it was not seen as a slush fund. The Minister should not have any hand, act or part in it.

It was an extraordinary U-turn by this Administration using the guise of transparency to claim the entire system needed to be changed. The only transparent thing about the changes being made by the Government is the smash and grab at funds to create a slush fund for its own purposes. The Minister has seen a fund similar to the lottery fund and wants full control of it. He will give it to his friends and use it for political patronage and to buy votes. The sheer arrogance of the manner in which that has been done is breathtaking.

We are now three weeks on from the local and European elections, and it is quite clear the Government has not got the message from the electorate. One of the things the electorate is reacting against very strongly is the arrogance of this Administration, and this legislation is a transparent example of how arrogant it has become. Funds that have become available through the work and decisions of the all-party Committee of Public Accounts are now being taken over by the Administration for sheer political gain, and it thinks the public will not notice. It is wrong, since the public has noticed and will continue to do so. It is an appalling abuse of power by the Government. The principle underlying this amending legislation demonstrates clearly that the Government uses power, and especially money, for its own ends.

I remind the Minister that the money does not belong to the Government. Like taxpayers' money, it belongs to the people and should be disbursed by their independent representatives. A board is being set up that will be appointed by the Minister to draw up a plan that will be sent to him but which he could effectively ignore. The Minister of State set it out in his speech today, saying the plan would go to the Government and the Minister and his colleagues in Cabinet would decide how the funds are spent. That is exactly what will happen, as happens with national lottery funds. The list will be drawn up, and we can be absolutely sure the Ministers will drive around to announce to the groups which are to get the money that they have reason to be thankful they are in office. They will tell them it is great that they are getting €2,000. During the last election we saw Ministers driving around in State cars to visit sports clubs and call meetings of school committees and various other organisations, often on a Sunday morning, to announce the wonderful news about the grant. It will be exactly the same with this slush fund. People, will be called in to be given the great news about the grant, which constitutes patronage of the highest order, but people are no longer prepared to be patronised. This fund has come from dormant accounts, from fine work done by the Committee of Public Accounts, and the original board set up by the Minister for Finance had support in principle from all parties. Its work was anticipated by the community and voluntary sector and Senator McHugh has observed the treachery that was wreaked on that sector by this extraordinary U-turn. It has been abandoned by the provisions of this proposed legislation and members of the sector will have to wait in line quietly like everyone else and behave like good girls and boys if they are to receive a few euro from this fund because the decision is ultimately at the discretion of the Minister.

This legislation represents a bad day's work. The Minister of State says it is necessary for corporate governance but I dispute that. I have seen no justification in the current set-up or in the proposed legislation for the so-called need for corporate governance. Of course there should be accountability for public funds but this Bill does not represent accountability, it is merely a grabbing exercise. The Minister's decisions regarding allocation may be published but we will draw our own conclusions about the reasons for those decisions when we observe money being allocated to the Government's friends in the various constituencies. This Bill represents an appalling show of arrogance and condescension by the Government and, like previous decisions, will not go unnoticed. The Government will gets its answer and we will be opposing Second Stage.