Can’t spin this waste of money

THE disclosure that the Department of the Taoiseach is to spend €130,000 of taxpayers’ money on a communications survey will outrage the public.

At a time when children are being denied vital medicines because of a lack of funding, it is obscene for the Government to be blowing this amount of cash on this study. It is beyond belief that communications appears to be the top concern when 3,000 youngsters are living in emergency shelter. With the HSE on the brink, it would be better for the Taoiseach to direct his attentions to tackling the spiralling waiting lists that he failed to address when he was Health Minister. When a task force should be set up to deal with these crises, the Government has been addressing what it considers are its priorities. This month it confirmed the establishment of its new Strategic Communications Unit. This is in addition to the Government Information Service that deals with matters relating to the Department of the Taoiseach. Claims that the SCU is nothing but Leo Varadkar’s personal “spin machine” are correct. If Government ministers really want to know what the public thinks of them they should go into the A&E departments to interview patients and stressed-out staff. They would not need a €130,000 survey to find out they are outraged and might end up requiring the medical facilities themselves.