Future job contracts for senior civil servants must include a responsibility to protect the public purse, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has said.
In his televised address to his party’s ardfheis on Saturday evening, Mr Tóibín called for civil servants to face disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, for “continuous mistakes that cost the taxpayer money”.
He said Aontú would, if in government, appoint a minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach with responsibility for “the efficient delivery of public contracts”.
In a speech laden with criticism of how public money is spent, the Meath West TD claimed “Government incompetence is incinerating your money and slowing key projects to a halt”.
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In a wide-ranging speech, broadcast on RTÉ, he said Ireland has been “cursed with incompetent political leadership”.
He said Taoiseach Micheál Martin is “so distant from the financial experience of ordinary renters” that his solution to “spiralling rents is to delete rent caps”, which he called the only brake available.
“On Irish Unity, Micheál Martin has become more Fine Gael than Fine Gael itself, making Leo Varadkar look like a member of Kneecap,” he added.
He criticised Tánaiste Simon Harris for signing the contract for the national children’s hospital as minister for health and then denying he had done so before last year’s general election.
“How can Simon ‘it wasn’t me’ Harris enforce a culture of accountability in the Civil Service if he himself is an accountability free zone?” Mr Tóibín asked.
He added: “And of course, €336,000 for the Gucci Bike shed. Government incompetence is incinerating your money and slowing key projects to a halt.”
The party leader also highlighted scoliosis waiting lists and the Children’s Health Ireland controversy over hip dysplasia surgeries.
“Simon Harris stated before the election that he wants to make Ireland the best country in Europe to be a child -except if you are suffering with an orthopaedic illness.”
Mr Tóibín, a former Sinn Féin TD, criticised party leader Mary Lou McDonald for supporting last year’s failed family and care referendums and a proposal to run them again if they failed.
“Echoes from Nice II, the peasants should keep voting until they get itright,” he said.
On Gaza, he said Hamas had “murdered” 1,700 people, is a terrorist organisation and must release all hostages.
“The Israeli government is 51 times bloodier than that terrorist organisation,” he added.
Mr Tóibín said the Government’s immigration policy “has been chaotic and has damaged the cohesion of this country”. He said six years ago “Aontú was alone is stating that we as a country must have an open respectful conversation about immigration”.
“If you don’t allow people to discuss immigration you push the discussion underground where it will be harvested and manipulated by bad actors for their own purposes. This is exactly what happened.”
Earlier, delegates at Aontú’s ardfheis backed a motion calling for an “outright ban” on anyone who “purposely destroyed their travel documents” entering the State.
However, party members at the event in Gormanston, Co Meath, rejected a motion stating that no non-Irish citizen should be allowed to “enter the State if they have a criminal conviction”.
During the first debate at the ardfheis, on the topic of international protection, Meath councillor Emer Tóibín, the leader’s sister, said there was “no long-term plan” for the “unsustainable” immigration system.
Delegates supported a motion calling for a reduction in immigration “for a period of time sufficient to allow the housing and infrastructural supports to come into balance”.
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Later, delegates supported a motion stating that only the national flag should be displayed on public buildings. The Irish flag and the Ukrainian flag are displayed on the lawn of Leinster House.
Party members backed the view that “public spaces remain neutral and inclusive, representing all members of the community rather than aligning with any particular ideology or political stance”.
Aontú more than doubled its vote share (to 3.9 per cent) in the general election, returning two TDs – Mr Tóibín and Mayo-based Paul Lawless.
The party says it has 1,800 members, with about 400 of them attend the party’s fifth annual ardfheis.
The party is represented in the Seanad by Sarah O’Reilly and has eight councillors.
