The Health Service Executive (HSE) has been fined €4.3 million over the past two years for failing to pay its bills on time for purchases including cleaning products and toilet rolls, the Dáil has heard.
Sinn Féin TD Mark Ward said “nobody is being held to account”, as he highlighted fines the health service pays for delays in paying its invoices.
“Every time a bill is not paid on time by the HSE for something as simple as cleaning products or toilet rolls or something like that, they get a fine,” he said.
He said the €4.3 million worth of fines in the last two years could have been used for badly needed services.
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He was speaking during a debate about addressing Government spending waste and accountability. projects such as the €336,000 Leinster House bike shelter and the €1.4 million security hut at Government buildings were highlighted.
Independent Ireland called for a department of efficiency and reform, but Minister of State Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran hit out at this “Elon Musk”-style plan similar to the creation of the US department of government efficiency.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Jack Chambers said his 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, he said.
The Independent Ireland private member’s debate was introduced by Cork Southwest TD Michael Collins who called for a department of efficiency and reform.
He said it was a “practical, no-nonsense measure” and “what real oversight should look like”.
“We need independent auditors, not political appointees, he said.
“We need experts from the private sector, people who know how to run a business, manage costs and keep projects on time and on budget. This new watchdog should have real power, including the power to arrive unannounced, dig through the books and expose waste in real time.
“There should be no more soft reports, no more lessons learned. If waste is found, heads should roll and the public should know exactly who is responsible.”
But Mr Moran defended the controversial projects in rowdy exchanges with Mr Collins.
He said Independent Ireland “talked about a Luas for every town in Ireland” during the election campaign and is now adopting an “Elon Musk-type approach” of “kill the system, kill the people – the very people providing for this country”.
The Minister, who has responsibility for the Office of Public Works (OPW), said he was the “first one to say and apologise to people that mistakes were made”.
He hit out at the Opposition for calling the “bike shelter” a “bike shed” and said it was built at a listed building (Leinster House) that is “cherished by people all over the world”. He said “we cannot just dig up, throw in and do what you bloody well like, which is what the deputies opposite are suggesting”.
He also defended OPW expenditure on a wall at the Hill of Tara and said the OPW was “not building a wall” but carrying out maintenance work. It might have gone on for 12 years and go on for another 12 years, he said, but “the Hill of Tara never closed”.
He said Opposition parties and some Independents “failed” to enter Government when they had the opportunity.
“I went in because I believe I can make changes, I can deliver,” he said.
Mr Collins told him “you should be ashamed of yourself” for defending the controversial projects.
