I received a flyer through my letterbox from an independent candidate for Dublin Central, Cieran Perry. His main plank is government waste, and how the wasted money could have been spent. I don’t have the time to check his figures at the moment, but it’s an interesting general point.
He gives two examples.
Example 1
This Government has wasted €200 million by overspending on the PPARs computer system for the Health Service. Cieran PERRY says we could have all of the following for that sum of money:
- 300 extra residential beds
- 50% increase in dental services
- 4000 extra operations from national treatment purchase fund
- 30 new inspectors for Nursing Homes
- additional respite care funding
as well as extra funding for new ambulances, Gardai in A&E at weekends, rehabilitation care etc…
Example 2
This Government has allowed a €250 million overspend on the Port Tunnel. We could have all of the following for that money:
- 500 new “Affordable” Houses
- 15 new children’s playgrounds
- 200 new public transport buses
- 5 new sports/recreational centres & pools.
- 6 fire engines
as well as additional funding for senior citizen complexes, new school & litter wardens, waste recycling projects, etc…
We hear a lot about Government waste, and indeed there has been a mountain of it, but it’s good to read about it in concrete terms.
I hadn’t heard the idea about Gardaí in A&E at weekends. Maybe the army Rangers should be called in. We’ve come to this…
Thanks for the mention on your blog!!!
The figures I use in my leaflet are all taken from the Governments own publications and documents.
The examples I used were to highlight some of the waste but unfortunately there are numerous other examples I could have used.