Allen stresses need for greater public accountability

THE NEXT government must strengthen public accountability and ensure that the complacency of the Celtic Tiger years is replaced by a determination to get value for money, the outgoing chairman of the Public Accounts Committee said yesterday.

Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central Bernard Allen said the committee should be provided with greater powers so that co-operation with its inquiries was “fulsome and if it isn’t we can get documentation ourselves to pinpoint waste and inefficiency”.

At the final meeting of the committee in this Dáil session, Mr Allen, who is not contesting the general election, said there had been “instances of witnesses being less than fully co-operative with this committee” by creating unnecessary delays and giving incomplete answers. This attitude is detrimental to our system of governance and puts taxpayers’ money at risk. There has been a lack of professionalism on the part of a small number who have come before this committee or have been subjects of investigation and it is to the discredit of the entire public service that these people have been tolerated.”

Mr Allen said there was an argument “for a serious shake-up of the Civil Service”, and he suggested the recruitment of outside expertise to some key positions could be necessary.

He said a referendum was needed on the Abbeylara decision in the Supreme Court which limited the power of Dáil committees.

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork East Ned O’Keeffe, who is not contesting the election, said he had to “speak highly” of most public servants he had encountered through the committee. He warned against over-regulation, which could be worse in some cases than under-regulation.

Fine Gael TD for Cork South West Jim O’Keeffe, who is not contesting the election, said the Constitution should be changed to create powers for Oireachtas committees to conduct investigations that might lead to conclusions. Tribunals such as Moriarty and Morris had “trundled on and on”.