We Need a Watchdog Agency to Monitor Wasteful Government Spending

We Need a Watchdog Agency to Monitor Wasteful Government Spending

The more the Government collects in taxes, the more it wastes. The Government is projected to collect €92.6 billion in taxes this year – that’s approximately €18,000 for every person in Ireland. “I think people would be shocked if they knew how the Government spends that money. Everyone knows about the €336,000 bike shed at Dáil Éireann. Sadly, that is the tip of the iceberg, and the amount is pocket change compared to how the Government wastes money elsewhere,” said Independent Ireland Party Leader TD Michael Collins during remarks on September 6.

One major contributing factor to all this waste is the fact that Ireland has no independent watchdog agency. “Independent Ireland calls for the creation of such an agency to monitor spending by government departments, NGOs, local authorities, and any other publicly funded organizations, such as RTÉ and An Post. The public deserves to know where and how its money is spent by the Government,” Collins said.  

“I’m sure most people are unaware that the Government spends Nearly €3 billion on Equality and Inclusivity initiatives, which is more than what we spend on higher education,” said Independent Ireland Chairperson Ken O’Flynn on September 6. The Government expends this money largely through NGOs focused on the following areas: Gender Equality, migrant Integration, LGBTI+, Traveller and Roma initiatives, Integration Service Delivery, per the Government’s Funds Administration Unit. Whether or not you think these areas should be priorities, I think we can all agree that spending €3 billion here is ridiculous (Note: All figures on spending are from the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform whereyourmoneygoes.gov.ie).

“Worse, we don’t even know how much we are spending on NGOs,” O’Flynn said. The last comprehensive report on NGO spending covered showed the Government spent €14 billion on NGOs in 2021. Shortly thereafter, the Department of Public Expenditure & Reform cut its funding to Benefacts, which produced the report. Until the Government cut its funding, Benefacts provided extensive financial and governance information on Ireland’s nonprofit sector. “So, we had a watchdog agency that produced a report which embarrassed the Government, and then the Government cut the watchdog’s funding. It doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to spot the coincidence,” said O’Flynn.

“The Government spends nearly €2 billion on International Protection applicants – that is more than we spend on Agriculture; Rural and Community Development; Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Tourism, Culture, and the Arts; Defence; or Environment, climate, and communications,” said O’Flynn. “While we have an obligation to house refugees, we have instead become the premier destination for people searching for the most generous welfare benefits, and it must stop,” O’Flynn said.”

“Just to illustrate wasteful and duplicative spending, we call attention to the fact that the Government financially supports 18 NGOs who work on migration in Ireland – five who work solely on legal issues and provide legal representation to migrants, and 13 more who provide social support at the national and county level. There is undoubtedly overlap here.” The aforementioned information is from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

This wasteful spending is out of control and Independent Ireland will put a stop to it by requiring all public authorities (and organizations funded by public authorities) to be subject to rigorous standards of the Public Accounts Committee.  Furthermore, Independent Ireland will call for a review of all NGO spending and an immediate spending freeze for NGOs not working in the healthcare or education sectors.