Madam, - Garreth McDaid (September 28th) takes issue with Fine Gael's plans to eliminate waste from public spending and to demand greater focus on performance indicators in respect of public spending.
I can understand how many people do not want to be bothered by notions of sound financial procedure when what they want is care in a hospital or better policing of crime blackspots. However, the evidence of the past five years is that without a focus on sound procedures the money thrown at problems will not deliver the results that people so badly need.
There has been little tangible improvement in the quality of public services despite an increase in taxes and spending of 100 per cent over the lifetime of the current Government. Mr McDaid seems to believe that to question this amounts to "bean-counting and management-speak".
I believe that those who want to see an improvement in the quality of our public services must ask the hard questions about the way in which our taxes are being spent.
Why should an increase of €2,000m euro (110 per cent) in our hospital budgets yield only 4 per cent extra beds and still be incapable of dealing with a declining number of A&E patients? Why should we accept that €4,000 million (an extra 60 per cent) is added to the cost of our road programme due to mis-estimation of costs, while the Minister scoffs at the idea of taking responsibility? Why should an extra €600 million (155 per cent) in the medical card budget be accompanied by fewer medical-card holders, with even families on the minimum wage denied cover?
The Government will soon be asking you to believe in a new, caring face and pointing to budget increases as evidence of its makeover.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice. . . - Yours, etc.,
RICHARD BRUTON, TD,
Deputy Leader, Fine Gael,
and Spokesperson on Finance,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2.