I move amendment No.1: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that: — the Government condemns the waste of any public money and notes that significant sums have been spent on providing better public services in recent years with the additional funding allocated towards improving and expanding the public services provided to our people; — Government expenditure has provided, and continues to provide, a robust response to the challenges and needs facing the Irish nation, through continued investment, leadership, and value for money in the delivery of public services and important infrastructure projects with this investment making significant positive impacts, including: — since 2021, completion of almost 53,000 new local authority scheme dwellings and delivery of hundreds of projects under the Rural and Urban Regeneration and Development Funds; — significant reductions in outpatient waiting lists and improved health facilities, such as the National Forensic Mental Hospital in Portrane, hospital extensions and new primary care centres and community nursing units across the country; — a reduction of approximately 48 per cent in the weighted average waiting time for outpatient appointments, down from just over 13 months in September 2021 to 6.8 months at the end of December 2024; — cost barriers associated with healthcare being reduced through the abolition of inpatient charges, the introduction of the free contraception scheme, and the expansion of access to free general practitioner care to over 670,000 people, making healthcare more affordable for individuals and families; — Ireland performing well on treatable and preventable causes of mortality and making significant improvements over the past decade, including reductions in the mortality rate for all cancers; — Ireland being among a small group of seven European Union (EU) countries where life expectancy at birth is above 82; — significant upgrades to Ireland's national road network and improvements to the public transport system, including BusConnects; — high-quality cultural and sporting amenities delivered, such as the Sport Ireland Campus in Blanchardstown; — continued progress under the National Broadband Plan, such that over 330,000 homes have now been passed and can avail of the high-quality connectivity offered by this plan; — free schoolbooks Scheme; and — early years childcare cost assistance to our families; — all five budgets under the previous Government term successfully balanced the dual challenge of remaining responsive to economic and social developments, while seeking to ensure both value for money and fiscal sustainability of the public finances and this Government will continue to manage the demand for better public services and fiscal sustainability; — Accounting Officers and accountable persons operate under high standards of administrative accountability that ensures value for money is achieved and that this accountability is fundamental to good governance, which in turn is vital to ensuring trust in public administration; — in carrying out their duties, Accounting Officers and accountable persons operate within a range of frameworks continually developed by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in areas such as corporate governance, risk management, internal audit, infrastructure investment, current expenditure appraisal, standards in public office, freedom of information and financial reporting and that these frameworks have ensured both accountability and value for money through the huge expansion of public services over the last decade and have ensured that there has been and will continue to be a focus on value for money at the heart of expenditure decisions across the public sector;— the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform will carry out a review of Public Financial Procedures with a view to further enhancing its accountability requirements in terms of providing value for money; — over the last decade, the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform has led on the development of expenditure appraisal expertise across Government Departments through the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service, which provides a network of analysts across Government to review the effectiveness of policies and programmes and to make proposals for improvements; — the Office of Government Procurement provides expert guidance and advice to public bodies as to the optimisation and efficiency of their procurement function, and to provide a clear understanding of compliance obligations with National and EU law in this complex function as well as continually working with stakeholders in the public and private sectors to develop more efficient and effective procurement procedures; — the size of Ireland's public service and expenditure is lean and efficient and provides value for money when compared to many other states with a similar economic and social model; further notes that: — under Budget 2025, the Government continues to invest in important public services and provides value for money, including through the expansion of health services, increases in core social welfare allowances; increased investment in housing, expansion of the School Meals Scheme; — investment in infrastructure is a critical component in supporting Ireland's growth and in delivering better, fit-for-purpose public services, and the increased capital spend in Budget 2025 continues the delivery of a NDP that is providing the vital infrastructure we need to support our future economic and social requirements, as well as our climate change commitments; — the delivery of capital projects has been challenged by a number of significant factors in recent years, including the continued impact of construction inflation on projects, labour shortages, particularly in the construction sector, and the ongoing delays in getting projects through the planning system; — the Government has approved a number of priority actions to improve delivery of NDP projects, including the introduction of the Infrastructure Guidelines in December 2023, to reduce the administrative burden on Departments charged with infrastructure delivery, the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform also chairs the reconstituted Project Ireland 2040 Delivery Board, which is charged with driving the delivery of the NDP, and these actions will boost the delivery of critical infrastructure in a sustainable and cost-effective manner, such as approximately 300 school building projects annually and BusConnects; — the Office of Public Works has introduced new governance measures and revisions to project approval thresholds to ensure the Management Board has oversight and approval of all works above €200,000; — the expansion of the mandatory Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies over the last decade and that it stipulates that 'State bodies should serve the interests of Government as a shareholder, the taxpayer and all other stakeholders, and pursue value for money in their endeavours', and that the Code is a critical framework for the application of best practice in corporate governance of both non-commercial and commercial public bodies under the aegis of Government Departments; — international private sector internal audit standards are in effect across the Civil and Public Service bodies through their adoption of the Institute of Internal Auditors' ,'2024 Global Internal Audit standards' that came into effect worldwide on 9th January, 2025, and that the adoption of these standards ensures that Central Government's internal audit framework is the same framework as for private sector entities, albeit with some clarifications pertaining to the different public sector governance arrangements; and — the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform is currently rolling out a major financial reporting reform that is improving and modernising Central Government's system of administrative accountability; and acknowledges: — the diligent, tenacious, and comprehensive investigations by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (OCAG) and his staff in fulfilling his Constitutional duties and notes the high-quality of his annual Report on the Public Services based on his office's investigations into economy and efficiency of public expenditure under section 9 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993; and — taking into account the governance frameworks already in place, ongoing work to make improvements in these frameworks, and the constitutionally independent oversight provided by the OCAG, there is no requirement for the establishment of a new body that would duplicate this work and that also would not have the same constitutionally independent and impartial role of the OCAG. ". I thank the Deputies for tabling this motion. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the focus of achieving value for money across the public services provided by the State. The past five years have seen an unprecedented expansion in the investment and delivery of public services. The Government and I absolutely condemn the waste of any public money. I am deeply disappointed with some of the cases that have come to light in recent weeks and months. Those examples of waste are unacceptable. The Government amendment sets out the many actions that are currently under way to strengthen the value-for-money component of the work undertaken by my Department and across government. I will speak to some of those actions today. Building up and improving public services for our growing population requires significant investment in infrastructure now and into the future. Government expenditure has provided, and continues to provide, a robust response to the challenges and needs facing the Irish nation through continued investment, leadership and value for money in the delivery of public services and important infrastructure projects. This investment is making significant positive impacts including: almost 53,000 new local authority scheme dwellings and the delivery of hundreds of projects under the rural and urban regeneration and development funds; significant reductions in outpatient waiting lists and improved health facilities such as hospital extensions, new primary care centres and community nursing units across the country; the abolition of inpatient charges, the introduction of the free contraception scheme and the expansion of access to free GP care to more than 670,000 people; significant upgrades to Ireland’s national road network and improvements to the public transport system; continued progress under the national broadband plan such that over 330,000 homes have now been passed by fibre; the free schoolbook scheme; and the early years childcare cost assistance to our families. There are also many more areas where there have been interventions, investment and support, and improvement in public services. It is unfair that the Deputies have not reflected and acknowledged that a lot of the investment that is being made is having a positive impact in communities. It is having a positive impact for the people the Deputies represent.

Sentiment score: 0.27

I can reference, for example, the sports capital programme and many other areas of capital investment that are valued by the Deputies in areas for which they advocate. The motion is not balanced in the context of the significant investment and impact that is being made in public services. I acknowledge the work and the dedication of many public and civil servants across the system who are helping to support all of the broader objectives in achieving these milestones. I recognise the work they do every day to try to achieve value for money across our public services. The Government has in place a range of oversight mechanisms pertaining to public expenditure. I would like to put examples of these frameworks on the Dáil record this morning. They include the various budgetary processes and reforms which are in place to support oversight in the delivery of policy; guidelines, such as the recently reformed national infrastructure guidelines; the public spending code for current expenditure; the code of practice of the governance of State bodies; public financial procedures; public procurement guidelines; arrangements for oversight of digital and IT projects and initiatives; and internal and external audit processes that provide validation of public expenditure. It is the legal responsibility of Departments to ensure that they, and the bodies under their aegis, comply with the governance and value-for-money principles and requirements, as their annual sanction to spend public money stipulates that Departments and Accounting Officers must have in place appropriate measures to operate in full compliance. The public financial procedures set out the rules and underpinning legal framework for the appropriate use of public money. They are based on the Constitution and legislation as well as the institutional and financial relationships between the Oireachtas, the Government, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. The detailed procedures of this framework are required to be observed by Government Departments in their consumption of public funds to provide public services and develop the capital infrastructure of our country. I would like to inform the House that my Department will carry out a full review of public financial procedures. This review will specifically examine the accountability requirements in terms of providing value for money. I want to be very clear that it is my view and the view of everyone in the Government that there simply has to be accountability and value for money for State spending, especially where there are specific questions over value for money considerations. Accountability must permeate through every level of the public service, including State agencies. Reviewing the public financial procedures is an effective way of ensuring this and the review will inform whatever steps are required in this regard. I also would like to bring to the attention of the House the work of my Department in the recent introduction of the updated 2024 internal audit standards, as well as the financial reporting reform for the Civil Service, as evidence that this Government and my Department continue to raise accountability standards in the public service using best international practice. This is how these have been developed in the context of global standards. These rules are required to be adhered to by all public bodies. The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General relies on and refers to these frameworks during its investigations and cites them in its reports, particularly such frameworks as the code of practice for the governance of State bodies and the public financial procedures. Furthermore, Article 33 of the Constitution establishes the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which is a key institution in the checks and balances of our democracy. It continues to serve the State well and its reports are considered and held in high regard by the Committee of Public Accounts. Taking into account the governance frameworks already in place, ongoing work to make improvements in these frameworks, and the constitutionally independent oversight provided by the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, there is no requirement for the establishment of a new body that would duplicate the important work of the Comptroller and Auditor General and that would not have the same constitutionally independent and impartial role of the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Government has put in place frameworks to ensure that value for money is achieved and my Department actively continues to develop these frameworks in the areas of governance, accountability and public expenditure management. Budget 2025 is continuing to deliver improvements and expansion across our public services for our growing population, continuing to invest in our young people and prioritising the need to address our infrastructure gap in the economy. We are committed to delivering value for money in the roll-out of new services as well as in the execution of the national development plan that provides housing, public transport, strong and reliable public utilities, healthcare and schools now and for the future. The ambition of this Government is to support the delivery of the right public services and infrastructure in a manner that provides value for money.

Sentiment score: 0.35