Waste in Government is “mind boggling”, a member of the Public Accounts Committee has claimed. 

Independent Wexford TD Verona Murphy is a member of the committee which scrutinises State spending to see if value for money has been achieved. 

In her time on the committee, she said she often encounters shocking waste and evasiveness from officials. 

“I can give you a list of wastage neither of the parties in Government have addressed and it is mind boggling,” she told The Hard Shoulder. 

“Week on week, we interview [Department] Secretary Generals who try and defend their budgets and look for more. 

“That in itself is quite frustrating because answers are not forthcoming. 

“Let me just give you an instance of some of the wastage that goes on unaccountable where nobody holds their hand up, nobody is responsible and it’s just ongoing. 

“The HSE spent €80 million on ventilators during COVID [where] no procurement was carried out on the companies that the money was paid to. 

“And the ventilators subsequently arrived in Ireland and weren’t able to be used because we had a different system.” 

Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath. Picture by: Julien Behal Photography

Deputy Murphy also criticised An Bord Pleanála for applying for judicial reviews “to the tune of millions” before then conceding cases.

Transport was another area of State spending that Deputy Murphy feels wastes taxpayers' money. 

“This one is mind boggling,” she said. 

“The Department of Transport; three combined projects MetroNorth, MetroWest and Dart Interconnector - €150 million completely wasted. 

“Nobody in the Department of Transport, in the NTA have actually disputed this figure - but neither have any them taken on responsibility.” 

The Government is forecast to record a €10 billion surplus this year but Deputy Murphy feels the fact the State is “flush with money” has only added to the lack of accountability.

The Department of Finance has been contacted for comment.

Main image: Verona Murphy TD. Picture by: RollingNews.ie