Results 181-200 of 1,082,976 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Ciarán Cuffe OR speaker:David Stanton OR speaker:Robert Troy OR speaker:Bernard Durkan OR speaker:Imelda Munster OR speaker:Michael Collins OR speaker:Catherine Murphy OR speaker:Matt Shanahan OR speaker:Roderic O'Gorman OR speaker:Mary Lou McDonald OR speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett OR speaker:Verona Murphy OR speaker:Duncan Smith) in 'Committee meetings'

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Danny Healy-Rae: It is a scandal to God what has gone on. First, there was a bicycle shed at €336,000, then a hut for €1.42 million, and now pouches for €9 million while there is a shortage of SNAs and teachers in our schools. A total of €4-€5 million is spent on migration funding. Any amount of millions can be spent on climate action and it still will not change the...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Thomas Pringle: I am glad of the opportunity to speak on the motion on the spending of public funds by the Government. There is no doubt this Government has mishandled the spending of public funds on so many occasions and too many to list. However, that the cost of the national children’s hospital has now risen to in excess of €2 billion is outrageous. I remember Mick Wallace, when he was a...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Marian Harkin: When I made my initial comments on the previous five budgets, I always made the point that it is not just how much money we spend that matters. How we spend it is crucial. The question always is whether it delivers value for money. I am not just saying that here tonight. Sometimes we get the impression that whoever is Minister is putting their hand in their own pocket and handing out...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Mattie McGrath: I would describe wasteful spending of public money as sinful spending of public money. There is no way to accept it but it has become accepted and has become the norm. The contract for the national children's hospital was wildly inadequate. It was like a piece of string for BAM and now we are going to do the same with the national maternity hospital. The bike shed and the security cabin...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Michael Collins: The complete waste of money is appalling, about which there is an outcry the Government is ignoring. It is quite adamant this pouch scheme is going to work. It knows as well as I do that no phone is going to go into that pouch. It is only codding us. I would like to know who is making these pouches. We need a bit more information about this because it seems the Government is determined...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Richard O'Donoghue: Why has this Government got so much money to spend? It is because of its tax regime. The Government loves inflation. When housing doubles in price, the Government gets the double the tax. When a house that once cost €250,000 now costs €450,000, the Government now has a tax intake of €53,524.23 in VAT if a person buys a new house. That is why the Government has the...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Michael Healy-Rae: I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this very important motion before us. However, one of the biggest wastes of money is the amount of money taken off taxpayers in the form of carbon tax. We all know what Sinn Féin did with the carbon tax. It supported it and said at the time that it was not going far enough and quickly enough.

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Pearse Doherty: No we did not.

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Seán Canney: I am sharing time with Deputies Shanahan and Verona Murphy. I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1: To delete all the words after "recognising that" and substitute the following: "there is a need for the Government to commit to protecting the public purse, seek value for the citizen and implement accountability to ensure that there is a cost to high ranking civil servants or...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Matt Shanahan: I am sure the Minister of State is aware of the old adages of "The easiest way to make a pound is to spend a pound" and "Mind the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves". It is fair to say that during the Celtic tiger, the realisation was made by many that many poor investments are made when an abundance of money is there and money is plentiful. It is also fair to say an...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Verona Murphy: In the short time I have, I want to be critically constructive. The Minister of State would do well to listen to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, which has issued an independent report on the budget stating that it is an inflationary budget. Spending from well-performing economy with extraordinary tax take, the tax take trebled in three years to €23 billion. Equally, what has...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Mick Barry: We need to talk about private procurement, phone pouches, security huts and bike sheds. The bike shed is actually illustrative of what goes on. A total of €336,000 of public money was spent on a shed for 18 bikes. There has been much media commentary to the effect that this is what happens when the State is in charge of a project or when the public sector is involved with one. The...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Gary Gannon: I thank Sinn Féin for bringing forward this motion. Sinn Féin’s motion is one-page long and sticks to phone pouches and child and adult mental health services, while the Government’s countermotion is significantly longer and goes wider. With that in mind, I will also go wider in my condemnation. In many ways this debate is about phone pouches but in many other...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Dessie Ellis: This Government has had plenty of opportunities to build a legacy of competency, stability and fiscal rectitude. Instead of a legacy of achievement, this Government can boast of a legacy of crisis, ineptitude and incompetence. The Government has a responsibility to help the vulnerable in society, particularly those who struggle each day because of a disability, mental health issues or...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Seán Sherlock: The Labour Party will support the motion. We note the Government's countermotion, in which there seems to be a strong emphasis on all the moneys being spent by the Government across a whole range of areas, from CAMHS to the capital expenditure on infrastructure right through to things like BusConnects. Nobody would discount the fact that the Government has expended large amounts of...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: We are way over time.

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Colm Burke: Targeted waiting list activity in 2024 is focused on those waiting more than 12 months. A real improvement has been delivered in mental health services, particularly in youth mental health.

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Seán Ó Fearghaíl: The next speaker is Deputy Martin Kenny. He is sharing time with Deputies Patricia Ryan, Mythen, Quinlivan and Ellis.

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Martin Kenny: The level of anger around the country about the phone pouch scheme is quite shocking. The Minister, Deputy Foley, mentioned principals to whom she has spoken who praised the initiative. I have heard nobody anywhere praising it. I have spoken to several principals and teachers and they are all saying the same, namely, that they need money for summer works schemes, special needs assistants...

Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion [Private Members] (8 Oct 2024)

Patricia Ryan: I am delighted the Minister, Deputy Foley, got off her chest everything that is wrong with Sinn Féin. She has now left the building. We will keep going. The expenditure of €9 million on phone pouches is unbelievable. That is €9 million. It is so unbelievable that I had to say it twice. It is even more unbelievable when we start doing the sums on how €9 million...