EU Election candidate, Senator Rónán Mullen has called on Minister Howlin to explain how over three years after his appointment to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, we are still being QUANGOed.
Senator Mullen said:
“This government promised an end to jobs for the boys, and an end to the needless QUANGOs that had been set up in times of plenty.
In November, 2011 Minister Howlin announced a radical overhaul of the nation’s QUANGOs, but to date little has been achieved. What is the point in merging local authorities if you then set up Irish Water? The public needs to be informed of the real savings, in circumstances where so much money is spent on consultant’s fees, rebranding, logos, recruitment drives: where are the real savings for the hard-pressed Irish tax- payer?”
He continued:
“Instead of simply the Health Service Executive, we now have the Health Service Executive and the Child & Family Support Agency, and we are promised that three more health allied agencies need to be set up including the Healthcare Commissioning Agency, Healthcare Pricing Office and the Patient Safety Agency. Furthermore, notwithstanding the size of the country, it appears that it is necessary for us to have Hospital Trusts and Primary & Community Trusts.
“In the course of my canvass I am meeting people who have educated their families, only to watch them emigrate because they can find no work here. I am meeting men who are trying to travel back once a week from England, or once a month from Dubai, so that they can see their children and pay their bills. People are taking extraordinary measures so that their families are fed and their homes are not repossessed. We are an industrious, hard-working and highly-educated nation and deserve value for money from our elected representatives. Minister Howlin needs to explain why reforms are taking so long, why new QUANGOs are being set up and why so many needless QUANGOs are still draining money from the public purse,” Senator Mullen concluded.
