A Fine Gael TD has said the current trajectory of government spending is “not sustainable” and poses “significant risks” to the stability of public finances, as he criticised his own Government’s “inefficiencies”.
In a recent statement, Wicklow TD Edward Timmins said that a stronger focus is needed on controlling current spending to ensure taxpayers get “maximum value” for their contributions.
“I believe the current trajectory is not sustainable in the long term,” he said.
“It poses significant risks to the stability of our public finances.”
Timmins told Taoiseach Micheál Martin in the Dáil last week that any increases in expenditure must not “reinforce existing inefficiencies” within the state.
The Fine Gael TD, who represents the Wicklow constituency, expressed concern that increased funding is not always translating into better services.
“We must control current spending,” he said.
“We must ensure that every euro spent is delivering improved outcomes for the public.”
Timmins raised specific concerns regarding the pace of growth in certain areas of departmental spending, including payroll costs.
He noted instances of “double-digit increases” related to the recruitment of additional staff.
“Are the increases resulting in better outputs and services for the public?” he asked.
“A zero-based budgeting approach is needed; where new spending is justified, and existing expenditure is examined to ensure it remains necessary and effective.”
The Wicklow TD also criticised the use of “rounded estimates” in projected spending figures, citing examples such as €10m rather than detailed, costed projections.
He argued that a distinction should be drawn between capital and current expenditure, noting that companies borrow to invest in assets that generate long-term value.
“The State must take a similarly disciplined approach,” he said.
“We must distinguish between spending that gives a long-term return and spending that covers day-to-day operations.”
He added that taxpayers work hard and deserve a “cast iron guarantee” that their funds are expended responsibly.
“I want taxpayers’ money to be accounted for,” he said.
“How those funds are expended and managed has to be underwritten with a cast iron guarantee that every euro spent is done so responsibly to the benefit of everyone.”
Timmins is not the first Government politician to criticise state spending in recent years.
Earlier this year Communications Minister Patrick O’Donovan asserted that official claims that Irish local councils are managing their finances perfectly cannot be accurate, while calling for a significant increase in the oversight of local government spending.
“Every year the local authorities get clean bills of health from the Local Government Auditor,” he told Gript in January.
“Now that’s actually not a financial possibility. Like, that is not financially possible that every single local authority gets a 100% clean bill of health. And I think it’s high time that the local authorities comes under the control of Comptroller and Auditor General.”
Meanwhile, in October last year, Fianna Fáil TD Albert Dolan launched a publicly-available public payments tracker tool to allow the general public to scrutinise State spending more easily.