Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

I previously spoke on this matter during the Second Stage debate and I do not intend to elaborate on what the previous speakers said. I am disappointed with the outcome of this debate. The original suggestion regarding dormant accounts was made by the late former Deputy Jim Mitchell in his capacity as the then chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts. I was enthused by what the Minister for Finance said about it at the time when I was in the other House. I thought he was rather visionary in his approach that it would not be established as a potential slush fund. I thought there was a degree of objectivity in setting up the board separately.

However, I thought it was sneaky the way the decision was reversed on 19 December when the Houses were in recess. The Minister's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, announced in a newspaper at the time that the Government was changing the ground rules with regard to it. The board, which was to be active in regard to the allocation of moneys, would now have very much a passive involvement and that role would very much revert to the Minister.

I am disappointed about this change. I remember when Donal Creed was Minister with responsibility for youth and sport a long time ago and the then policy in regard to lottery funding. We talk about transparency in regard to allocations, but the reality of what happens on the ground in regard to allocations to the area of youth and sports is that if one approaches a Fianna Fáil Deputy, he or she will help one to fill in the proposal form. The Deputy will then meet the general group, whether they be members of a GAA club or members of another group, and agree to take the application further. The Deputy will then arrange for a deputation to go through the mechanics of the process to bring it to the level of the Minister. The relevant Department will indicate that details of the allocations of the funds will be published on a website. However, in reality what happens on the ground is the appropriate Deputy is tipped off a few days in advance and will notify the appropriate people that he or she does not know the specific amount but that funding is on its way and the group has been looked after. That is what is happening in this area and it seems to be an accepted norm.

With regard to what the Minister for Finance said originally in this regard, I said that we were changing the ground rules in regard to this, as a board would make the decisions. The Minister of State said that the board received allocations or submissions which could total up to a €1 billion. Some €222 million is available under the dormant accounts fund. If that is the case and if one was concerned about it, somebody, in consultation with the board, should have determined the criteria in regard to the applications for funding. It could have been given out over an evolving period, but there is a deep suspicion that what happened in regard to the lottery funds will happen in regard to the dormant accounts fund and the same criteria will apply as in the past.

Again, it will come down to from where the application comes, the Deputy involved and the presentation made. This is a way of getting elevated within the pecking order in the system, even if an application does not conform to the criteria governing educational disadvantage or otherwise. These are the same circumstances as obtain in respect of national lottery funding for sport. There will be another layer of largesse for the spending of which the various Government parties will take credit. That is not transparent and Senator Ryan is perfectly correct in this regard.

The Minister spoke for a long time, trying to justify his position. He can talk all he likes about this issue, obfuscate it and put a spin on it, but it is another political slush fund. It is regrettable and the Minister is contradicting what he originally stated on this subject. In this regard, let us consider an article that appeared in Comhairle's Relate newsletter, an excellent monthly publication that outlines areas of concern to politicians and others. The Minister made his announcement on 19 December and the article was published in January. It stated all the criteria originally envisaged that would apply regarding the dormant accounts fund and we assumed the rules and regulations that would apply would be those that were supposed to apply. We know what happened in reality.

There was a certain amount of deception regarding the manner in which the announcement was made on 19 December. It was made during the Christmas recess when the House was not sitting. The Minister can apply all the spin he likes but the fund is another political slush fund for which he, other Ministers and Deputies can claim credit subsequently.