Bradley Bytes – A sort of political column by Dara Bradley

Waste of public money, while ordinary people suffer cost of living increases, is an issue in this general election.

Nationally, the new Children’s Hospital’s eyewatering budget overruns (€1.6 billion and counting) and the massive cost (€336,000) of the Oireachtas bike shed stand out as projects with careless spending.

In Galway, two street furniture parklets on Middle Street and Dominick Street, costing a total of €250,000, show money is no object when it comes to the City Council pushing the Department of Transport’s Active Travel agenda.

And of course, the local authority’s plan to move its headquarters from College Road to Crown Square in Mervue is one where costs could spiral to many millions of euro more than the original estimate.

There are other examples where spending isn’t necessarily extravagant or wasteful, but could be more efficient.

Take HIQA’s decision to sign a ten-year lease on new offices in Galway city centre. The annual rent (€214,570) was ten times what the Health Information and Quality Authority was paying for its previous offices and will cost a total of €2.1m.

In fairness, the new offices are almost five times the size of its previous rental building and they facilitate six times as many staff (60).

But when you’re spending €2.1m, would it be prudent to buy offices, rather than forking out dead money?

HIQA said it does not have access to capital funding that would allow it to purchase property, but maybe it should.

“HIQA complied with Government policy and Office of Public Works (OPW) guidance in the procurement of these offices. HIQA works closely with the OPW to ensure that rental expenditure meets its needs and provides value for money,” it said.

HIQA comes within the remit of the Minister For Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the Minister for Health.

When asked, a spokesperson for the former said: “HIQA are an aegis body of the Department of Health and as such this query is proper to DoH”.

The Department of Health said: “Please refer your query to HIQA directly for response, as it is more appropriate for their attention.”

Back again to HIQA, which said: “HIQA requires consent of the Minister for Health and the Minister for Public Expenditure to acquire or lease property.”

There’s nothing untoward about a state body renting property, but investing in buying or building offices on public land might be more prudent.

Pictured: The parklet seating on Middle Street: total spend on it and similar facility on Dominick Street amounted to €250,000.