Albert Dolan

The Irish state collected €106 billion in taxes last year.

Not €106 million, €106 billion.

And we've heard recently about the half a billion euro earned in fuel taxes that had yet to be spent.

Only yesterday we heard about the bumper carbon tax revenue that will be collected this year.

So the big question we're asking today is, is our tax money being well spent?

And I'm joined in the studio by Albert Dolan, who is Fianna Fáil TD for Galway East and on the line by Dan O'Brien, Chief Economist with the Institute of International and European Affairs and columnist with The Currency.

And you're both welcome to the programme.

Albert, I'm going to begin with you because you've taken on this project where you're trying to show people exactly how the money is being spent.

Tell me how that works.

That's key that you say force efficiencies.

So you've come at this from a place where you believe the system is not efficient, that there isn't accountability and that there is wastage.

And I see that you've written a Substack article about this and you have juxtaposed those two questions that the public would say, is this value for money?

The civil servant will say, did I follow the processes?

Now, they are wildly apart, aren't they?

They're completely different questions.

Well, let's bring in Dan on this.

And Dan, I know that when the state wastes money and you suspect that it does it quite a bit, it drives you around the twist as it does so many people who are listening to this.

So do you welcome this project that Albert Dolan has taken on?

A long time coming.

Isn't it fundamentally like you can give a few bob to the nurses and to the ambulance staff, but if they feel they're paying very high taxes and the USC, which has been a huge topic of conversation in recent times as well, and they don't feel they're getting the services in return, that is where the problem lies, isn't it?