Nick Delehanty 🇮🇪(@Nick_Delehanty):Excellent episode of the David McWilliams Podcast. Matthew Fenlon is one of the most important minds on public spending, He knows how the system actually works. One point I would add: @davidmcw explains that Ireland’s strict procurement rules were introduced to prevent the corruption and cronyism of the 1990s. Yet IPAS has used a loophole under emergency procedures to award billions in accommodation contracts without open tendering. We built an entire bureaucracy to stop cronyism, but then created a side door. IPAS is the greatest public-spending scandal in the history of the State. They are making fortunes while hiding behind the plight of asylum seekers. It needs to be exposed.

2026.07.28 14:17

Excellent episode of the David McWilliams Podcast. Matthew Fenlon is one of the most important minds on public spending, He knows how the system actually works. One point I would add: @davidmcw explains that Ireland’s strict procurement rules were introduced to prevent the corruption and cronyism of the 1990s. Yet IPAS has used a loophole under emergency procedures to award billions in accommodation contracts without open tendering. We built an entire bureaucracy to stop cronyism, but then created a side door. IPAS is the greatest public-spending scandal in the history of the State. They are making fortunes while hiding behind the plight of asylum seekers. It needs to be exposed.