FG calls for stricter controls on public funds

THE Government must impose stricter controls on key departments to protect the taxpayer from the “alarming” lack of financial scrutiny and the doubling of budgets in one case, Fine Gael insisted yesterday.

The latest Report on Expenditure Review produced by the Department of Finance has revealed that key departments like Health and the Office of Public Works have been allowed to opt out of all scrutiny, Fine Gael’s finance spokesman Richard Bruton said.

The review also provides evidence that outcomes and performance have not been driving the allocation of public money by the Government over the past eight years, Mr Bruton said.