'Building in some level of accountability is going to be essential' for Government, says PAC vice chair
The vice chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Catherine Murphy, said that accountability in public services spending should be 'the No 1 priority for Government'.
The Government has been accused of failing to prioritise accountability for how it uses taxpayers' money after the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) highlighted a litany of spending failures across the public service.
The latest report from the State's spending watchdog has highlighted significant issues with funding practices by public bodies including the Office of Public Works (OPW), the HSE, An Garda Síochána, and the Department of Social Protection.
“To say that money management within the State is not ideal would be an understatement,” the vice chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Catherine Murphy, said.
Ms Murphy added that accountability in public services spending should be “the number one priority for Government”.
Among the findings of State's financial watchdog are:
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- The cost of spending on the modular accommodation for Ukrainians fleeing war has more than doubled to €442,000 per home with 654 homes planned;
- The State is being forced to chase up to 60,000 people who claimed the pandemic unemployment payment while they were working. Up to June 2024, just 6,600 had been contacted;
- An audit of a new financial system being rolled out by the HSE found costs have risen by over €40m since an estimate in 2015, with more monies likely needed before it is fully operational. It was supposed to be up and running by September 2019;
- The State is failing to be fully reimbursed for the private policing of events by An Garda Síochána by not fully charging for those services on behalf of the gardaí;
- And the State has spent just €167,000 on adapting the country's flood relief scheme to meet climate change needs.
Ms Murphy said “in a normal situation, [her committee] would be planning out the year ahead to bring in the groups mentioned” in the C&AG report. However, she said the looming general election makes this task more complicated.
“We’ll look at the funding, but there is a need for this Government and the next Government to look at these organisations and these failures and to find out what happened,” Ms Murphy said, adding that “building in some level of accountability is going to be essential”.
The new C&AG report notes that the cost of modular homes for Ukrainian refugees has increased by more than 100% from the €200,000 per unit as initially planned, with the cost of the project revised on four occasions in just six months up to January 2024.
The latest estimates from the Department of Integration are that the project will cost €289.3m, leading to the average cost of €442,000 for each of the 654 units produced.
The body carrying out the construction of those rapid build houses, the Office of Public Works, has endured a torrid few weeks after details of nearly €2m being spent on the construction of a bike rack and a security hut close to Leinster House provoked public outrage.
The C&AG report also details how the OPW has spent just €167,000 on adapting its flood management plans in terms of the onset of climate change over the past five years, with that news especially aggravating for the taxpayer given the occurrence of disastrous weather events such as the Midleton floods of October 2023.
The auditor added that the OPW has made “very little or no progress” in adapting its individual flood management plans in terms of specific climate change targets since it was first charged with doing so in late 2019.
The report also reveals that, up to June, the Department of Social Protection had contacted just 6,600 of an estimated 60,000 people who had an overlap between receiving the pandemic unemployment payment and a period of working.
As of last December, just €13m of the €55.5m issued in overpayments had been recovered by the department.
A separate audit of a new financial system being rolled out by the HSE, meanwhile, found that costs have risen by over €40m since a previous estimate was carried out in 2015, with more funding needed before the system becomes fully operational.
The integrated financial management system is now expected to be fully working across the HSE by the end of next year. The original completion date was September 2019.
The Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General has raised concerns about costs, the pace of the work, and its impact so far.