Government wasting public money, Opposition parties claim

The Government was last night accused of "incompetence and mismanagement" in a Labour-Fine Gael Private Members' motion.

The two parties joined forces to claim the Government was wasting public money, outlining the revelations in the recent Comptroller and Auditor General's report.

Labour spokeswoman on finance Joan Burton said that since coming into office, the Government had spent a total of €301 billion. Of this, €47 billion had been on capital spending on roads, hospitals and other infrastructure.

"Can the Taoiseach, Tánaiste or any single minister claim with confidence that the people of Ireland have got anything remotely like the equivalent value for this amount that has been raised from their taxes or borrowed against future tax returns?" she asked.

She said the Government's list of failures ranged from an underpayment of €2 million due from National Toll Roads for the M50 toll, and, amazingly, never even spotted, to widespread tax evasion in the construction industry.

Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton said that real indicators reflecting people's lives had not improved: access to primary care, accident and emergency, to affordable housing, the detection rates of serious crime and standards of care in old age.

Minister for Finance Brian Cowen said he acknowledged that all efforts must be directed at ensuring as far as possible that value for money was gained and waste avoided. He outlined measures to improve value for money.