Paul Murphy: Government waste is driven by private profiteering
Paul Murphy criticised a motion on government waste, arguing it misunderstands the causes and would worsen spending by deepening outsourcing and privatisation. He said waste is driven by private companies and 'vulture funds' ripping off the state, not by public sector workers, and condemned proposals tied to a 'Department of Efficiency and Reform'.
Murphy said the motion doubles down on a neoliberal approach that outsources public services to private firms, leaving the state unable to perform basic public works. He argued that the proposed solutions would make waste worse by encouraging further contracting out rather than rebuilding public capacity.
He cited the infamous bike shed case and Sensori, saying the company was founded by Michael Stone and won over €21 million in government contracts in two years, charging €336,000 for a bike shed. Murphy used the example to illustrate how well-connected private companies can inflate costs and continue winning state contracts.
Murphy highlighted housing deals that he characterised as wasteful, including €3.4 billion committed in rent to vulture funds to lease 9,000 social homes for 25 years and a further €10 billion paid to landlords since 2011. He said that money could have been used to build permanent public housing for tens of thousands of families.
He warned that proposals modelled on US-style reforms could slash funding for services like cancer research and public health and lead to mass dismissals by email, but noted stronger worker protections and union resistance in this country. Murphy criticised Independent Ireland's stated agenda and its apparent admiration for figures like Trump and Musk in setting up an Irish 'Department of Efficiency and Reform'.
Murphy argued that the problem is profiteering contractors rather than public sector staff, pointing to cases such as BAM's role in the National Children's Hospital as examples of inflated costs and poor outcomes. He concluded that breaking from the 'neoliberal rip-off republic' is essential to stop waste and protect public services.
Main argument
Murphy said the motion doubles down on a neoliberal approach that outsources public services to private firms, leaving the state unable to perform basic public works. He argued that the proposed solutions would make waste worse by encouraging further contracting out rather than rebuilding public capacity.
Examples cited - bike shed and Sensori
He cited the infamous bike shed case and Sensori, saying the company was founded by Michael Stone and won over €21 million in government contracts in two years, charging €336,000 for a bike shed. Murphy used the example to illustrate how well-connected private companies can inflate costs and continue winning state contracts.
Housing and vulture funds
Murphy highlighted housing deals that he characterised as wasteful, including €3.4 billion committed in rent to vulture funds to lease 9,000 social homes for 25 years and a further €10 billion paid to landlords since 2011. He said that money could have been used to build permanent public housing for tens of thousands of families.
Public services, unions and international parallels
He warned that proposals modelled on US-style reforms could slash funding for services like cancer research and public health and lead to mass dismissals by email, but noted stronger worker protections and union resistance in this country. Murphy criticised Independent Ireland's stated agenda and its apparent admiration for figures like Trump and Musk in setting up an Irish 'Department of Efficiency and Reform'.
Contractor failures and the National Children's Hospital
Murphy argued that the problem is profiteering contractors rather than public sector staff, pointing to cases such as BAM's role in the National Children's Hospital as examples of inflated costs and poor outcomes. He concluded that breaking from the 'neoliberal rip-off republic' is essential to stop waste and protect public services.
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Transcript
The motion is right that there has been a lot of waste by this government so far, and in particular a lot of waste by successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments down through the years. But the motion and the analysis and the speeches we have heard from them fail to look under the bonnet and figure out why is this waste happening. Therefore the solutions that they propose would actually make things even worse, because the motion seeks to double down on a neoliberal rip-off republic where public services are outsourced to the private sector, leaving behind an empty shell of a state that cannot do basic common sense things like building public housing, providing bike sheds, building walls, all those things instead are outsourced to a profiteering private sector. Independent Ireland are so blinded by their right-wing neoliberal ideology that they want to ape Trump and Musk and set up an Irish version of Doge, the so-called Department of Efficiency and Reform. We have all seen the horror of what is happening in the US. Staff and funding for cancer research, nuclear safety, public health all being slashed. Public sector workers being fired by email. Thankfully workers and unions in this country have fought for stronger rights than they have in the US. It is not possible to fire thousands of public sector workers at will by email. But we know from this motion what independent Ireland would do if they got that chance. Public sector workers beware. Laying waste to the public sector is independent Ireland's agenda. Now let's lift up the bonnet and figure out why is government waste happening? Is it because we are not outsourcing enough to the private sector? No, the opposite is true. Because when you dig into any of the infamous examples of government waste, including the bike shed, what you find in every single case are examples of well-connected private companies ripping off the state and the public. Sensori, the company that built the bike shed, was founded by Michael Stone, a big political supporter, a donor of Pascal Donoghue, the man who got his posters up for free. They got over 21 million euros in government contracts in the last two years alone. Charging 336,000 euros for a bike shed has had no effect and then continuing to be awarded massive state contracts. You will see their vans in this building today. It is the same story with housing. The state has agreed to pay 3.4 billion in rent to vulture funds to lease 9,000 social homes for the next 25 years. When the 25 years are up, the vultures will still own the property and can do whatever they like with it. That is on top of 10 billion euros in government handouts to landlords since 2011. That is waste on a colossal scale. The government could have used that money to directly build public housing, provide permanent social and affordable housing for upwards of 50,000 families. None of that, or the 26 billion set to be wasted on fines for climate inaction, tends to be mentioned in debates around government waste, because it does not fit the right-wing narrative that the public are being fed on this. The cause of government waste is not public sector workers, it is not hard-working teachers, it is not nurses, it is not firefighters, it is the profit-seeking vultures circling the state, always on the lookout for ways to inflate the cost of government contracts and to slash wages and conditions of workers. That is what BAM have done with the National Children's Hospital, and it is that neoliberal rip-off republic that we need to get away from, not get deeper into, if we want to stop waste. Thanks Deputy. Deputy Ward.