We have the right to know who we pay - Public funds and transparency

IN ALL but the most exceptional circumstances, all public expenditure, the great majority of Government spending, should be open to rigorous and easy public scrutiny — scrutiny that might lead to a novel degree of accountability that could provoke real sanctions if wrongdoing is uncovered.

One scandal after another in the relatively short history of this republic is rooted in the fact — the shabby, sleazy practice so convenient for some — that our culture of secrecy has facilitated public and private sector relationships that would hardly satisfy even our regime of light-touch regulation, were they more open to examination.

It seems reasonable, too, to suggest that it is difficult to reach an informed position on a particular policy or scheme unless you are in possession of the full facts around it, including all expenditure involved and who the ultimate beneficiaries of that public expenditure are.