Peadar Tóibín says latest bike shed squander shows this government is “allergic to accountability” and such waste will continue without penalties.
The Aontú leader called for civil servants’ contracts to state there will be a cost to career if they spend taxpayers’ money irresponsibly; and calls for a Junior Minister to oversee all contracts.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín the HSE’s €127,000 hospital bike shed is the latest case of wanton government waste, following the €336,00 Dail bike shed.
Said Deputy Tóibín: “They refused to enforce accountability in relation to the infamous OPW bike shed in Leinster House. So of course it’s going to be repeated.
“It will go on and on forever and will never stop unless someone loses their job for this cavalier waste of taxpayers’ money.
“There’s no penalty to anyone, so it’s going to keep happening. The political system can get in a tizzy all it wants at this waste, but if it does not enforce accountability it well keep happening.
“I can give you odds of 100/1 the government will do its best to ensure nobody is held to account on this. In Britain for example, and other countries, it would mean resignation. The key question is, who signed off on this?
“It’s even more shocking in a cost-of-living crisis. This week we heard of young children with rare illnesses being denied life-saving drugs because of the cost of these drugs. Yet the state continues to incinerate taxpayers’ money on projects such as this.
“As a state we’ve never been as wealthy, but we have very little to show for it in terms of infrastructure. Ireland is an outlier in the world on government waste.”
His solution is to insert waste clauses in contracts and to create a Junior Ministry for spending.
Said Tóibín: “Aontú has called for accountability to be written into the contracts of senior civil servants. If they spend money in an irresponsible fashion, there has to be a cost to their careers, up to and including losing their job. In every other sphere of work there is accountability, but the higher levels of the public sector.
“Aontú wants a Junior Minister in the Department of The Taoiseach, whose responsibility should be to watch live contracts and make sure expenses are being done carefully. This Junior Minister should report on a weekly basis to the Taoiseach. This would locate accountability at the very top of government.
“It’s not quantum physics. The rule of thumb is simple: ‘Would you spend this yourself, on your own house, with your own money? And if the answer is No, then don’t sign the contract.
“This bike shed could have been done at a fraction of the cost.”
