Paul Murphy: National Development Plan doubles down on failure
Paul Murphy criticised the National Development Plan as a blueprint that perpetuates state failure to deliver basic services and said it relies too heavily on private markets. He accused private companies and hospital consultants of profiting from insourcing and called for a state construction company and stronger action by Irish water over sewage in parks.
Critique of the National Development Plan
The speaker said the plan contains no big new ideas and amounts to a doubling down on a failed model of relying on the private market to deliver public services. He argued this approach "never has and it never will" work for working class people who need basic services.
Allegations of private profiteering and insourcing
Drawing on his experience on the Public Accounts Committee, he said that in 99% of cases scandals of waste involve private companies ripping off the state. He cited hospital consultants setting up private firms to profit from insourcing in under-resourced public hospitals, noting it occurs in multiple hospitals and referencing St James' specifically. He also named Tala as having had £5 million spent on insourcing in the last five years.
Concerns about well-connected contractors and consultancies
He criticised well-connected contractors, legal and consultancy firms for securing large government contracts and charging the state high fees for work he said should be done directly by public bodies. He presented this as a key contributor to the infrastructural deficit.
Proposal for a state construction company
As part of the solution, he urged the establishment of a state construction company to deliver necessary investment and projects. He presented public delivery as the antidote to private profiteering and a means to address infrastructure failings.
Sewage in parks and criticism of Irish water
He raised local incidents of sewage flowing into parks, citing Donner Valley Park and Balradary Weir and saying recent events were predictable after years of raising concerns. He challenged Irish water's pace of investment and described their current stage-of-work claims as insufficient - saying it is simply not good enough that parks are contaminated when it rains heavily.
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The National Development Plan is a plan for continued state failure to provide the basic services that working class people need. There are no big new ideas on it. The doubling down on a failed model of relying on the private market to deliver. It never has and it never will. Since I joined the Public Accounts Committee, what has struck me is that in 99% of the cases, the scandals that people hear about of waste of public funds are really cases of private companies ripping off the state. It's hospital consultants setting up private companies to profit from insourcing in the same under-resourced public hospitals that they are paid to work in as public servants. It's happening in loads of hospitals, by the way, not just St James'. It's also happening in Tala, where £5 million has been spent on insourcing in the last five years. It's well-connected contractors, legal and consultancy firms getting millions of euros annually in government contracts to charge the state through the nose for things that it should be doing directly itself. A key part of the answer to our infrastructural deficit is a state construction company to deliver the investment and the projects that we need. It should not be too much to ask that in 2026, when it rains heavily, that we shouldn't have sewage flowing into our parks. But I've been raising this issue for years now about Donner Valley Park, about Balradary Weir and what happened yesterday was entirely predictable. I've been raising it for years. Again, sewage flowing out because we've got a high amount of rainfall. It's years that we've been pursuing Irish water to invest in this. They haven't been doing it. They're saying, oh, we're doing it now. We're in stage four. It's simply not good enough. People, it shouldn't be too much to ask that we shouldn't have that happening in our parks. Thank you. Thank you.
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