ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER WASTE OF TAXPAYERS MONEY Deputy Mary Lou McDonald - speech from 25 Feb 2025

Welcome to Leaders' Questions. So, Taoiseach, another day and another revelation of government waste of public money. Over the weekend, it emerged that in 2017, the National Gallery purchased a scanner at a cost to the taxpayer of nearly 125,000 euros. The scanner, as you know, has never been used because a suitable room couldn't be found to accommodate it. So, this equipment that cost the people 125,000 euros has sat idle for eight years. Of course, this wasn't a once-off. You'll recall, I'm sure, that in 2018, the government purchased a printer for the Oireachtas to the tune of 800,000 euros. And that printer lay idle for 10 months because it couldn't fit into the building. Eventually, a further 230,000 euros of public money had to be spent on works to the building to get the equipment in. What are people to make of all of this, Taoiseach? Government waste of public money is not a recent phenomenon. Far from it. A government culture of waste and incompetence is deep-rooted. It's been going on for a very long time. We hear an infuriating example of taxpayers' money squandered and nothing done about it. It's revelation of waste after revelation of waste. The public might well ask, what's coming next and where does all of this end? This week, it's the scanner that hasn't been used. Add to that the 366,000 euro bike shed, the 1.4 million security hut, 9 million euros for phone pouches, nearly half a million euros on a perimeter wall. The list of government scandalous waste of public money is as long as your arm. And yet, no one, not a single person, has been held to account. In this government culture of waste and incompetence, it seems nobody is responsible. Taoiseach, where is the proper government oversight of how public money is spent? Where are the checks and balances and reporting within public procurement processes for which government is responsible? How is this allowed to happen time and time again? Government can feign anger. You can say that this has nothing to do with you, you can blame the National Gallery, you can point the finger at anybody and everybody under the sun for the most expensive bike shed, security hut, perimeter wall. But let's be clear, the buck stops with you, with government. You're in charge and it's your responsibility to ensure that public money is spent wisely and properly and Taoiseach to take corrective action when it's not. I think ordinary people see this for what it is. Government either knows about waste of public money and does nothing about it, or doesn't know at all and is grossly incompetent. Maybe it's a bit of both. I think ordinary people see this for what it is. Tisheak, was this matter raised and discussed a cabinet today, and what do you propose to do about this latest episode of Scandalous Waste? Thank you, Deputy. Tisheak. Well, I'm going to tell you about the Institute on the Institute of the Gallery of Náxuínta. And I'm going to tell you about the Institute of the Institute of the Gallery of Náxuínta. They took the Faculty of Náxuínta, but I don't think the score is one of the cosqu zen-náx. And his school was throwing out on Scandalous Waste. I just want to say at the outset that the National Gallery is a very important national institution. People from across the country derive great joy and benefit from it, hosts many treasures. But it is incomprehensible that they would have proceeded under a digitalisation scheme to purchase a scanner and not have organised in advance how that scanner would be deployed in terms of a lead-lined room and so on. That is not acceptable, as my understanding has unearthed this, I think it should be examined fully by the Public Accounts Committee in when we have that committee established. It simply isn't good enough. The gallery has to answer for this and those responsible have to answer for it. Since 1998, the National Gallery of Ireland has had an x-ray facility, a fill-in-the-dark-room and wet processing facilities for researching the materials and techniques of its collection. And between 2012 and 2013, the old x-ray equipment, which was housed in a lead-lined room, was decommissioned in preparation for the NGI's master development plan to accommodate major on-site changes and infrastructural works. The intention was always to reinstate the x-ray facility but to move to a digital solution. And what happened here, of course, a scheme was developed, a cultural digitisation scheme. The NGI, National Gallery of Ireland, purchased a digital x-ray system, valued at £124,000. But quite clearly from the annual report, it hadn't worked out how it was going to deploy it and how it was going to locate it and began discussions with the OPW after the purchase, looking at suitability of locations and something. It's completely unacceptable. People are right to be angry about it. And the Control and Order General, as I say, had a key role in that. That said, I think it's also important that stories of this kind and events of this kind are irate, make people very irate, make people very angry. But we also have to take on board the fact that there has been a lot of good projects. It doesn't reflect the full picture of public expenditure on many, many worthy projects in this country. And one only has to look at the number of schools that we've built over the last number of years, reservoirs, waterworks. There's example after example where funding has come in on budget and on time. I've listed these school buildings before, from Edwin Rice College Dublin to Petition Academy Mallow and so forth. The old Connacht-Woodbrook water supply scheme, Windmill Hill Reservoir, Kilkenny City regional water supply project, all good projects delivered well and in the interests of people. For example, Fitzgibbon Street Garda station, for example, in the justice area, fit for purpose accommodation. Walter Scott House, which will accommodate up to 900 Garda personnel from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and then all the various roads from Castle Baldwin right to Listow. Thank you. There's an overall picture here, but the House in general needs to focus on the specific yes. Your time is up. Thank you. Deputy MacDonald. Please. Yes, well, let's do that then, will we? Because if you're citing Fitzgibbon Street Garda station as an example of efficiency and delivery, I'm afraid you've chosen a bad example. That took years and years and years to be delivered. I resisted in my – it did, it's in my constituency – I resisted in my opening remarks citing the children's hospital, but I now feel moved to do so. Because that, you see, is the example of the type of incompetence and waste that we've seen writ large. But it has its foundations, I believe, in a government culture of utter disregard for public money. And that's reflected, a Taoiseach, if I might say so, in the response that you've given to me. You've said, all of this is incomprehensible, it's not acceptable, it's not good enough, and then somebody else has to answer for it. I value the National Gallery and they have to do their job and give their account. But you are the Taoiseach. Thank you. I asked was this matter raised to Cabinet. I want to know what you as Taoiseach and what the government is going to do about this instance and other instances of waste. Taoiseach, please. I shouldn't say this, but to be fair, members of your movement have always valued art, down through the years, in different ways. I appreciate your close scrutiny on the National Gallery, but could I also say that the politicians in this House cannot be responsible, I will genuinely say this, for how individual agencies or the gallery or an arts centre procure and deliver. We create boards, boards are established by legislation, there are responsibilities here on those who decide on these things. That is just generally so, but we politically also, and you say let's have the debate, I mean I can remember it was a Deputy Osnodic, 50,000 of toner cartridges, that showed a tremendous focus on value for money, didn't it? 50,000. You are a resort of cartridges. That is expenditure in this House. So before you throw stones, it is 120,000 here, wrong, it is 120,000 is crazy, you should never buy a scanner. We move now, when your time is up, Taoiseach, we move to Deputy Ivana Bacic of the Labour Party. How much? Thank you. Deputy Ivana Bacic. 7 million? No, because you'll be in hot and heavy for the next inquiry. Thank you Taoiseach, Deputy Ivana Bacic. Like, share and subscribe and let us know your thoughts in the comments. We'd love to hear from you.