Mairéad Farrell
Galway West · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“Working people, whether unionist, nationalist or other, have been failed by partition because at the end of the day, a Westminster Parliament is making decisions on behalf of their communities. Irish unity has really got the potential to deliver for all of our communities, including those communities.”
“Is í an cheist ná céard go díreach atá chun tarlú anois. Cad iad na chéad céimeanna eile? Thug mé cuairt ar an scoil Dé hAoine seo chaite agus chonaic mé nach bhfuil go leor spáis inti. Tá sé le feiceáil go soiléir go bhfuil na ranganna riachtanais speisialta agus, ar ndóigh, an seomra ranga breise ag teastáil go géar.”
“Ar mhaithe le soiléiriú iomlán, ón méid a thuigim, bhí maoiniú curtha ar fáil don tionscnamh seo. Is léir go bhfuil sé seo ag teastáil. Cuirfidh mé chomhthéacs air seo. Is scoil bheag í seo i mBéal an Daingin, ach is scoil láidir í. Tagann daoine ó cheantair éagsúla chun a gcuid páistí a chur chuig an scoil seo.”
“I really welcome the decision by the Tánaiste and the Government to have these statements on the fiscal implications of a united Ireland. It is crucial that we continue with debates of this type.”
“That needs to change in the context of this debate because we are talking about a new and united Ireland that will include a new and different perspective on the opportunities that we see for us all from an economic perspective when it comes to a united Ireland When we are planning for this, we need to look at that in terms of the economi…”
“Without proper planning and preparation for Irish unity, we completely and utterly risk missing this seismic opportunity we have to create a new economy and seize this historic opportunity. It is absolutely essential that we begin preparations now.”
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“It is a real concern and it is high time the Government took a look at this and ensured a fair distribution of network costs so we can invest for people like those who have lost electricity for weeks on end across Connemara. After every storm that blows a little bit of wind, they lose their electricity because there is not investment in basic infrastructure to ensure they do not lose it again and again for weeks on end.”
“It is incredibly difficult for him, so difficult that he had to contact my office to see if there was any way to get a retrofit done more quickly. There are countless people with serious issues when it comes to their roofs. Tá fadhbanna le díonta ar fud Conamara, áit nach bhfuil siad in ann retrofitting a fháil i gcomhar an dín sin. Níl an cúnamh ann. Yet their bills increase and many of these people are still waiting to get money back from their electricity providers, having been forced to pay electricity bills during Storm Éowyn when they literally did not have electricity for weeks. These are the big issues facing people and they will only cause more debt as people head into winter.”
“Sometimes we need to be really honest with ourselves. At this moment in time, we know one in five children is living in poverty, 300,000 households are in debt on their electricity bills and nearly 200,000 others are in debt on their gas bills. We need to look at that and make decisions that impact people's lives and help them. We are bringing forward this constructive motion to try to assist in that sense. The Government countermotion mentions retrofitting. The Minister of State will know well that retrofitting is difficult for many people to access. I am dealing with a man in his 80s who has been waiting nine months to get his house retrofitted. He lives on his own and every day he has to put down a fire and put the coal on the fire.”
“It is deeply concerning for most people that this is where it is. When does the Minister expect to have an outcome? Has he been able to identity exactly how this occurred? I do not mean any one person should be blamed for something like this but there must have been some system failures as well. Has the Minister got to the bottom of that? Does he expect that to come out of the report? When does he expect the report to be in the public domain? The Minister will be acutely aware, as he prepares for the budget, that many people are struggling with the cost of living. When you do your weekly shop, the difference every week on the same bundle of goods is amazing. There is a huge impact. When people see this kind of thing, it frustrates them. Let us be frank about that.”
“People are quite worried about this. We are seeing reports that one civil servant was apparently overpaid by €280,000. The 19 former and existing senior civil servants received overpayments worth €1.4 million. I hope measures are being put in place to make sure this does not happen again. The fact that it happened in the first place is shocking. When I raised it with the Minister at a committee he said he had no concerns about recouping the money. However, when his Department was in front of the Committee of Public Accounts last week it did not seem to be certain of the timeline. It is my understanding that it was pointed out that some of these people will have 20 years to repay the money, which is a very long time. I am concerned that we will not be able to recoup all this money. This has been a major blunder.”
“My question relates to the scoping exercise the Minister and his Department are undertaking on the overpayment of pensions to civil servants and Ministers. What is the status of that, what has been identified to date and what can he tell us about it?”
“When we are talking about investment within Uisce Éireann and we know investment is desperately needed in terms of delivery of housing and so on across the State, we also need to look at the investment we are making in water infrastructure on the offshore islands. On Inis Oirr, for example, there are night-time restrictions every summer. We need to have a plan and we need to invest in the offshore islands when it comes to water. We have previously had, as the Minister will remember, issues with water on Inisbofin as well. We need to have a plan. I accept that these types of plan will not be-----”
“They say people circled the wagons, tried to protect the reputation of the organisations involved and frustrate the whistleblowers' efforts, and, if needs be, questioned their motives, character and so on. We had incredible witnesses before the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach in the previous Dáil who told us about their lived experiences as whistleblowers. I hope very much that their words will be reflected in the Department's engagement with the EU as part of this review.”
“One thing I absolutely encourage and urge the Minister to do is listen to the voices of whistleblowers. That is essential. We have had an issue for far too long whereby whistleblowers highlight wrongdoing and feel that they are persecuted after doing so. Unfortunately, from listening to the real-life experiences of whistleblowers, I do not think the position in that regard has changed. We need to do everything we can to protect these people because when it comes to revealing wrongdoing in the State, more often than not, the relevant information actually comes from whistleblowers. I will not name any of them because there are far too many to mention, but the thing that is common to all of them is how their efforts to reveal wrongdoing were treated.”
“We need to make sure we are protecting these people. People come forward because they passionately believe something has gone wrong, and the people have been wronged. We need to protect them. Far too often in this State they are just not protected.”
“When the Government was transposing the EU directive on protected disclosures, I was clear at the time and I voiced significant concerns. I felt it was perhaps deliberately going to weaken the transposition. I said I felt the setting up of the protected disclosures office was a retrograde step and that it removed a protected disclosure as a political issue. Previously, an Opposition TD could deliver a protected disclosure to the relevant Minister and then seek to know what progress had been made. Now, the Minister will simply say that has been handed to the protected disclosures office and it has nothing to do with them any more. We have had very serious cases recently, which were well publicised and extensively dealt with in this House. Those were the whistleblowers in the Grace and CHI cases.”
“The Minister might be aware that I have a particular interest in the issue of protected disclosures and protecting whistleblowers. I worked well with the previous Minister, Michael McGrath, in regard to the EU directive. I put forward my own legislation on this. There is obviously now going to be the review of that. There is the EU review of the protected disclosures regime, and I am interested in an update on that.”
“I also ask that the Minister mentions the issue of procurement, which I have mentioned before, to make sure we get the best value for the local economy and for local people out of the investment we make.”
“I look forward to seeing how that unfolds. It is incredibly important. It is interesting that on both the budgetary oversight and finance committees we have been dealing with the issue of tariffs. One of the big things is how we can protect ourselves. What may or may not happen nobody can predict. One of the longer term things is the investment in capital infrastructure, so we can build housing and our own economic structures. It is about being targeted and putting in place the kind of infrastructure that will help support indigenous companies as well. If there is a big focus on capital infrastructure, and there is a mind to address some of those issues, we need to put all of our focus on that.”
“I thank the Minister for that initial overview. It will not surprise him that I raise this, but one of the big things is the capital spend on infrastructure. Storm Éowyn put into sharp focus the creaking infrastructure we have across the west of Ireland, in particular. That is obviously an area I would like to see huge progress in. I am aware the Minister knows the west of Ireland quite well. I know he cannot give me specific figures on what exactly will be spent on budget day. However, will he identify some general capital projects that will get additional funding? It is fair to say we need to see identifiable progress in the likes of the basic crucial infrastructure that needs to be invested in, in the west of Ireland.”
“Is dócha gurb é seo an uair dheireanach a bheimid ag suí roimh an samhradh. An cheist is mó atá i mbéal an phobail faoi láthair ná céard go díreach a bheidh ag tarlú leis an gcáinaisnéis. I ask the Minister for an update on general budgetary expenditure measures. There had been an expectation that the summer economic statement was due to be released this week, but it now looks like it will be next week.”
“The reality is that everybody, including every child, deserves dental treatment when they need it. Therefore, we need to see a plan put in place to ensure people from across Galway and other counties have access to dental care when they need it.”
“The response is not an answer to the question. I am sure that if the people concerned asked about services in other counties, they would find it very difficult to find a dentist who would give the medical care with a medical card. Really and truly, what we need now is a plan. Another dental issue I was contacted about concerns a woman who flagged with me that her young son, who has had significant dental issues throughout his primary schooling, will not be seen within the school system until he is in sixth class. The family has already incurred many dental expenses for which it has had to save. Again, that is not good enough. When it comes to dental care, or any form of healthcare, treatment for an immediate need should not be based on what money you have in your back pocket to fork out for it.”
“This is an issue we have been discussing for many years. In my home county, Galway, not a single dental practice is taking on new patients with medical cards. This is an issue I have been raising for some time. Consistently over recent years, people in dire straits have come to me, whether for themselves or their children, to try to gain access to medical care. A child in absolute agony might be told there is no dentist who can take him or her but that he or she can be put on a list with a waiting period of several months or a year. Anybody who has ever experienced a toothache will realise it is not something a child can live with day in, day out. It is not a good enough response. I have reached out to the HSE on this and the response was that people should look in other counties. That is not feasible or practical.”
“She was in and out of hospital, suffered loads of misdiagnosis and was even told it was muscle pain or, as she said, some rubbish like that. I ask the Minister to listen to these women.”
“I am sure the Minister would agree that for too long women's health was not discussed and was seen as something secretive or embarrassing. As a result, for decades, women's healthcare has been utterly neglected. This is not exclusive to women with endometriosis; it concerns a whole range of things. This needs to end. Especially as the Minister is a woman, I appeal to her to see what this motion says and what these women have told us needs to be done. It comes from the expertise of the women around us today. I am conscious of time but I want to share the lived experience of a woman who contacted me. She now has stage 4 endometriosis. She was diagnosed in March 2023 at 36 years of age, having suffered terribly with this illness since she first got her period at the age of 11.”
“We know the application system for driving tests can be a disaster. An issue not raised as much is motorcyclists applying for tests. There is a major waiting list and people are told to monitor the site for a cancellation. There is a new practice where third-party sites and apps, for a fee, use bots and book up the cancellations. This places normal applicants at a disadvantage. It means some people fork out more money just to be in with a chance. This may not have been raised with the Tánaiste before. If it has not, will he speak to the Minister for Transport about it? If this practice is happening, it needs to be stopped.”
“The international system, the foundations of which were initially put in place after 1945, is slowly being dismantled before our eyes and the words that come from the mouths of western leaders have little relationship to reality. We need to do better not only for the Palestinian people, but for all the people.”
“Israeli war bonds will continue to be facilitated by the Central Bank and we will continue to have lofty statements backed by little meaningful action. The Irish Strategic Investment Fund could be directed by the Minister to divest from those eight companies identified by The Journal . These companies have operations within the occupied territories. They are on the UN blacklist. It really pains me to see the way that the UN blacklist and international law is being ignored and destroyed. Only earlier this week, the Prime Minister of Israel, for whom there is international arrest warrant issued, was allowed to fly unperturbed through EU airspace. Of course, it is not only EU airspace, but Irish airspace as well, where a blind eye is turned.”
“She has ridden roughshod over the EU Parliament, so much so that the President of the Parliament has threatened legal action. A hard-hitting report from the Bundestag said the SAFE programme may be illegal and now there is a no-confidence motion coming in her. Fine Gael has already stated that it will support her. It is hardly a surprise. I understand that Fianna Fáil MEPs will not support that motion. This Commission, led by her with her carbon copy, Kaja Kallas, has weakened Europe's standing on the global stage but, obviously, we can only do what is within our powers. We continue to fail to exercise the powers that we have. The occupied territories Bill, without including sanctions, is weak. It is also tokenistic.”
“Ursula von der Leyen has been one of the staunchest defenders of the current Israeli regime. She has consistently provided cover for them, going for photo opportunities at every possible moment. She talks about human rights and international law but it is clear for all to see how unequally she applies this. She will talk about Russian war crimes but she will not talk about Israeli war crimes. She will talk about the need to defend Ukrainian lives but she is silent on the need to protect Palestinian lives. She is proud of the 18th sanctions package against Russia but she has not mentioned a single sanctions package against Israel. She has pushed ahead with her poorly titled SAFE, Security Action For Europe, programme. This is a programme of militarisation which will make us less safe.”
“He should see one thing. When he prices people out of access to third level education, he is limiting their access. I will give him a bit of a history lesson. I started university in 2008. In 2008, there was a massive students' movement that knew free education was going to be absolutely and utterly demolished by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We held protests in NUI Galway and on the streets of Dublin because we knew exactly what they were planning to do. They are proving us right again and again. I raised this with the Minister's two predecessors on numerous occasions. I told them they were only going to do it as a once-off, that they did not care and that they were not going to do it for the long term. The Minister has just proven he will continue doing exactly that. We do not need to hear his bluff and bluster.”
“In the run-up to the general election, the Government parties made all of these promises about how they were going to get rid of student fees. The Tánaiste even said in November that he would return to genuinely free fees and that this would be done over the lifetime of the next Government if he was returned to power. What do we have instead? The first thing we hear is that promise being reneged upon. The Minister also said that he has spent his time listening to all of the students who are here, that he has listened to the students' unions and that he will continue to engage with students' unions over the course of the summer. Yet, when he talked about the challenges we face as a State, he did not mention students, their families or their financial hardship once. The Minister says he wants to focus on access to education.”
“The Minister clearly does not know how budgets work. I have only two minutes of speaking time so I will not be able to go through it now but I have no problem sitting down with him at some other time to go through exactly how budgets work. Budgets are about political choices. The Minister says it is a policy decision. It is a policy decision the Government said it was going to take.”
“If the "Dr. No" approach of the Government changes and were it to do more than delay or vote down this Bill and were it to see that we need to see reform, I would welcome that. I have no problem welcoming things. In the previous Dáil, sometimes we had Ministers with whom we worked well in changing certain aspects of certain Bills, etc. I am always willing to welcome that when it happens but in this particular Government, we are seeing very much a "Dr. No" approach. That is unfortunate. I commend the Labour Party on bringing forward this Bill.”
“I am sure that if you were here for a much longer time, you could have a lot more to say about that too and could speak of the shortcomings that exist within our legislative process. Sometimes we need to see a lot more reform and one should not just reflexively shoot down Opposition Bills because one can. We need to have far more reform. We need to see within the Department of public expenditure a far more reformist zeal. Rather than just going through the motions, it should really deal with reform, which is in the title of that Department. I commend Deputy Bacik on bringing forward this Bill. This particular legislation is very interesting. There is so much that can be done in this House. I can see that a lot of thought went into it and it is targeted and designed to address a specific issue of transparency in a neat and tidy manner.”
“The Minister of State might say that is not what is happening but then the Government should publish it. It should not be used to deflect from legitimate criticism, should not be a crutch to lean on in times of instability and should not be something to hide behind when the Government is unable to marshal meaningful arguments for its own positions. If Deputy Bacik's Bill were accepted, we would address all of these issues. It is the kind of Bill that would genuinely improve the functioning of Government, which, unfortunately, is probably why it is being voted against. Legislation and reform of this type only seem to happen in the moment of a crisis. That is what I have seen over the past five years. It is a shame that Deputy Bacik's former colleague Brendan Howlin is not here as he could talk about all of these issues at length.”
“Only last night, my Transparency and Social Value in Public Procurement Bill 2024 was kicked down the road for 24 months. I have seen that happen to other Bills and, in my view, that just means that it is not going to happen. The Minister of State has stated the Government is voting against this Bill and maybe that is a more clear-cut answer from the Government than this crack of delaying it for 24 months. I am the only person I know who got a 24-month ban on a Bill. I got an awful slagging that I got mine a 24-month delay when most Members get nine months to a year. However, I will continue and in two years' time, I will make sure to raise it again. We need to see the publication of the Attorney General's advice when it is given. It should not be used as a shield, a crutch or a curtain.”
“Every single time, I reply that according to advice that seemingly was published by The Ditch , it says it is a political decision. Again, every single time we have this kind of debate, we are told that this is not possible. This example alone, especially given that it is so politically charged and is so much within the political vernacular at present, speaks to the merits of this Bill. More broadly, I have a real issue with the state of transparency in the State and I have raised this on a number of occasions. Transparency and openness are fundamental to faith in political life, political decisions and people's ability and willingness to participate in all of those things. Often, however, transparency and openness have come to be seen as burdensome in some quarters. I see a lack of ambition when it comes to improving oversight.”
“One clear example, the most recent example that is on everybody's lips at present, is in relation to the unpublished Attorney General's advice on the occupied territories Bill. Consistently, we were told that cannot be done because of legal reasons because of the Attorney General's advice. Then, it was seemingly leaked and published by The Ditch , which stated that issues of including services in the Bill was a political decision and it had nothing to do with some insurmountable drafting issues. It was simply a matter for the Government to decide. I have done my fair share of interviews about the occupied territories Bill and the first question I am always asked is that as the Attorney General's advice is that it cannot be done, it is insurmountable and services cannot be included, how possibly therefore I can go against it.”
“Sometimes I think people do not realise how important this particular legislation is. Indeed, it is one that establishes the relationship between Ministers and their Secretaries General. The Bill deals with the relationship between Ministers and the Attorney. In particular, it requires the publication of the Attorney General's advice. I have seen how often the Government tells us that it cannot do X or Y because of Attorney General's advice. It is almost used to hide behind. It is often the case as well that we are told that something is far too complex for us to understand and that is another reason something cannot be done. Our little minds would never understand. That hiding behind that advice means that they do not pursue a given course of action.”
“Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cheann Comhairle agus leis an Aire Stáit. This is my third week in a row speaking on a Private Members' Bill from the Opposition which, on a Thursday afternoon, is being pushed back or declined by Government. This feeds in to a narrative and the opinion that this is a slow-moving do-nothing Government. First of all, I commend Deputy Bacik and the Labour Party on bringing forward this Bill. Most of us would be in agreement that, of anybody in the House, Deputy Bacik probably has the most understanding in relation to these matters. It is quite astonishing, to be perfectly honest, that the Government is going against this Bill. It is also very rare that we see amendments to the Ministers and Secretaries Act, despite it probably being one of the most important pieces of legislation in the State.”
“Is it not telling that as Fianna Fáil heads into its centenary year, it chooses the commercialisation of the GPO as its flagship celebration? Perhaps it is so clear the Proclamation of 1916 has not been fulfilled that there is a sense of embarrassment within the Government. As the conversation on Irish unity and self-determination continues to grow, the Government continues to hide from the issue. The Proclamation stated: "We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible." It did not exclude a certain section of Ireland or its people. It is quite clear that anywhere else in the world, the GPO would be a national historic museum, as it should be.”
“Where else in the world would a building from which a rebellion was led and from which the independence of a country in its entirety was proclaimed be the subject of an attempt by the government of the day to get rid of that historic tradition by having the commercialisation of the building as its mainstay? Would the French commercialise the Bastille? This is one of the proudest buildings in our history, our fight against colonialism and our Proclamation as a nation to the world. A building which bears such significance should be treated as the national historic monument it is. Some people have said here this evening they are shocked that the Taoiseach, Deputy Micheál Martin, would make such a commitment. Having seen his record and heard his words in this House, I am not shocked one bit.”
“We have a domestic violence epidemic in this country, North and South. Every single week now in my weekly clinics, women disclose domestic violence to me. Reporting of domestic violence has increased everywhere, including in Domestic Violence Response Galway. It is clear that something needs to change. I understand and recognise that is an enormous task to undertake, as domestic violence is an epidemic. However, there are certain things we can help with, especially when it comes to housing being a particular barrier for women who have left a domestic abuse relationship. Councils do not deal with women who have left an abusive relationship as a category under their hardship terms. This is something that the Government needs to look at. There should be more help in place for women who have left domestic violence.”
“Why can we not work collaboratively?”. It makes zero sense to me, to be honest, that this is being pushed down the road for 24 months. I hope the Minister of State does not regret this in future when she does not have the information to hand to make it easier for herself to make changes that need to be made. I am sure she has her ideas about what she wants to change, and things will come up over time, but if she does not have the data to hand it will be far more difficult to implement it. Sin é. Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach Gníomhach agus leis an Aire Stáit. I thank the other speakers.”
“Somebody might come to her with an idea, or she might come across it through her own research or whatever it may be. Then she could say, "Well at least now I have the data so I will be able to look at implementing it because I have the data to hand". I am very disappointed because this has happened to me a few times when I have introduced a Bill. I am trying to work with the Government on this. It is not just about giving out. I will give out when needs be but it is also about working with the Government. I take that aspect of this job very seriously and I make sure I am offering solutions. We have a Bill here. It makes sense to me. I have only been in this House five years but at the very start, it came to me straight away and I thought, “Why in the name of God do we not have that information to hand?”
“We will often hear Ministers come back and say that we never talk about the spending that has come in on time or on budget, and all of those things, but we do not have the data. We need to have the data. In order for anything to work with regard to changing how we do things, we need to have the data. This information would also be of use to the Minister of State specifically in this instance because she would have those data readily available to her. The Minister of State is at the start of her ministerial journey in this Department but she is going to continue. When she has all of that information to hand, she may come across things where she will think, "Do you know what? I want to do X. This is done well in this place, or this is done well in that place".”
“If we are serious about looking at a new industrial policy, there is one arm of the spending in the State that we have control of, and that is spending by the State, which again is the biggest expenditure in the State. We are talking about €22 billion. This is a tool. I have given the Minister of State a tool by which she could use the system for industrial policy purposes but she is saying "not right now". That just does not seem to make any sense to me at all, especially given that we often hear that lessons will be learned. We have often heard, when it comes to an overspend or wasteful spending in the State, that lessons will be learned. Lessons cannot be learned if we do not have the data to look at.”
“It has also been found by the Information Commissioner that once a contract is awarded, the contractor and price are no longer confidential, so there should be no issue with connecting procurement systems to other public registries because the commercial sensitivity has, at that point, gone out the window. The Minister of State also talked about deregulation. We do not even have the data on how the regulations would be applied because there is this black box I was talking about. I do not understand that either. We also had the Draghi Commission, and I know the Minister of State has not spelled it out. Undoubtedly this is part of it but the Draghi Commission was about promoting a new industrial policy.”
“Even if the Minister of State never intended to allow the Bill to pass the last Stage, if we had the opportunity to talk about and go through this, the Minister of State would have the opportunity to tease out the issues in the midst of her review. By the time these things get to Committee Stage or get through it, it will have taken a huge number of months rather than waiting the 24 months. The Minister of State is telling us that she has to wait for the EU to tell us what is what, while at the same time the EU is telling us that national governments need to improve the functioning of their own procurement systems. That is what this Bill intends to do. What we are saying, however, is that we have to wait for the EU to tell us what to do.”
“That is maybe too Dublin-centric in my opinion because we need to look at how our money is being spent across the State to promote both social value and equality. My Bill would help to highlight where that reluctance is because we need to know. If we have the data we can look at where the reluctance is. We are talking about being prudent with public finances. There is talk about AI and digital transformation while at the same time, we are relying on procurement reports from 2019. It is like a Sunday league football team talking about preparation for qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. The words just have little relationship to reality.”
“I think that is incredibly important, and that is what the whole issue of beneficial ownership comes down to. The concept that we do not know just baffles me completely. If the majority of companies in the CRO, as the Minister of State said, are not using public contracts, it is clear there is no massive creation of work here. If the majority in the CRO are not, it should not be really about creating huge amounts of work, and finding out who we are spending the money on should absolutely be a no-brainer. The Minister of State was also talking about equality budgeting before the committee yesterday and her support for this, and I do not doubt that. On the use of social clauses, I welcome the fact that the Minister of State met with certain Dublin authorities.”
“With regard to some of the comments the Minister of State made, the EU Commission is currently engaging in proceedings against Ireland for failing to properly enact the fifth anti-money laundering directive because of the manner in which it was transposed. This relates to the issue of trusts the Minister of State was talking about. The State was also in the spotlight due to the use of trusts for listed financial activities, and this Bill would help to improve that. It is bizarre to hear that this is being used in an area where we have been found wanting. This does not make sense to me. When we talk about beneficial ownership, that is a no-brainer, in that we should know where our money is being spent. We should know who the money is being spent on.”
“If the Minister of State was saying that the review will be concluded in a certain amount of time and we will revisit it then, that would be fine but if the review is going to take two years, how long is it going to take the Minister of State to make the reforms subsequent to that? I have to say I am disappointed. I probably should not be because it is something I have come across before in this Chamber. I was hoping we would look at tangible actions. Even if the Minister of State felt there were certain issues that needed to be teased out, changed or whatever, we could actually look at tangible actions that we could do. I am worried that there does not seem to be the will there. This is about waste of money and how money is spent. It is also about how we can better spend the money.”