Jamie Long

Master of Public Administration @IIPP_UCL | PPE @UCDDublin | Éireannach 🇮🇪

[Albert Dolan TD @albertdolan_]

The HSE's move from publishing payments over €100,000 to over €20,000 is exactly the kind of reform I've been advocating for. The result is simple: far more public spending is now visible, searchable and open to scrutiny.

Q1 2025:
📊 €305.7m visible
📄 940 records

Q1 2026:
📊 €694.2m visible
📄 7,918 records

That's an increase of:
➡️ 127% in visible spend
➡️ 742% in published records

This is exactly why I'm bringing forward my Tender to Payment Public Transparency Bill. Every euro of public money should be traceable through a golden thread: Tender → Contract Award → Contract → Purchase Order → Payment.

Link to data for q1 2026: https://t.co/2VxMUr1loj

#OpenData #Transparency

[Thomas Byrne @ThomasByrneTD]

Accreditation badges are in Irish, our Presidency website is in Irish, I speak Irish at every Council meeting, and several EU Working Parties will be chaired in Irish - for the first time ever.

This is a groundbreaking moment for Irish as an official EU language, which we are fully embracing.

[Albert Dolan TD @albertdolan_]

Every euro of public money should be traceable from tender to final payment.

This week, I'm preparing to submit my Tender to Payment Public Transparency Bill.

The aim is simple:

If public money is spent, the public should be able to follow it.

Who got paid?
What contract authorised the spending?
How much was paid?
What was delivered?

Too often, that information sits in different systems and cannot easily be connected.

This Bill aims to create the "golden thread" linking public spending from tender, to contract award, to contract, to purchase order, to payment.

If we can follow the money, we can ask better questions, improve accountability and deliver better value for taxpayers.

This has been a huge piece of work and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you soon.

[The New Statesman @NewStatesman]

MARIANA MAZZUCATO, ROCKSTAR ECONOMIST
by @OliDugmore

Mariana Mazzucato's ideas now influence how millions of people are governed. She was directly consulted in the formulation of Joe Biden’s CHIPS Act, a stimulus package worth $280bn. The World Bank’s mission to connect 250 million sub-Saharan Africans to electricity is pure Mazzonomics. And it’s not just the centre left drawing on her work. The Trump administration’s 10 per cent stake in Intel has made the US government one of the chipmaker’s largest shareholders. “He’s taking bits of The Entrepreneurial State,” she says, namechecking her 2013 book. But “other bits were completely ignored. The bit where I talk about socialisation of risk and socialisation of rewards is critical: you can’t just have an entrepreneurial state taking the risk, investing, and not then making sure that the citizens who paid for it, through their tax, benefit too.”

And the “missions” which Keir Starmer launched in opposition and then codified in Labour’s 2024 election manifesto? He drew on her 2021 book Mission Economy. Yet it wasn’t long after Labour came to power that she realised: “Guys, you misunderstood what missions are. Growth is not the mission. Growth is the result. Missions can’t just be completely top-down, technocratic, otherwise you kill innovation.” (Mazzucato knows Starmer personally and they’ve bumped into each other at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.)

There is a persistent narrative that the social-democratic left has not just run out of ideas but is so intellectually deficient that it is actively ushering in the radical right. In Britain, that narrative is a justification for attempting to defenestrate the Prime Minister. Over the past few months I have interviewed Mazzucato a number of times, to understand what a progressive economic agenda might look like, and whether it’s capable of crushing the populists.

https://t.co/lmbuAE42vV

[Albert Dolan TD @albertdolan_]

We can often see who was paid. We can often see how much they were paid. But we still cannot easily see which contract authorised that spending.

That is a major gap in public accountability.

I raised this issue with Minister Chambers and proposed a simple change: add a contract reference to published purchase order reports.

It sounds like a small adjustment, but it would create a clear trail from:

Tender → Contract Award → Purchase Order → Payment

Right now, billions of euro in procurement spending are published, but connecting payments back to the contract that approved them is often far more difficult than it should be.

Public money should be traceable from beginning to end.

The Minister agreed that strengthening transparency is a worthwhile objective and committed to examining how additional information can be provided as part of wider procurement reforms.

[Darragh Moran @DarraghMoran16]

Great to get down to Galway City, Kilkieran, Carna and Clifden canvassing trí Ghaeilge agus Béarla for my good friend @CillianKeane1. A couple of serious “political” photos as well as some fun memories from our days in @KBC_UCD below. Muintir na Gaillimhe, tabhair seans don óige.

[Albert Dolan TD @albertdolan_]

We talk constantly about “value for money” in public spending, but there’s no shared understanding of what that actually means.

For most people, it means:
Did this need to be done, and could it have been done for less?

Inside the system, it often means:
Did we follow the process?

I wrote about a new way to think about public spending and accountability.

Read here: https://t.co/txQ7Pb1el7

[Colum Eastwood @columeastwood]

I’m astounded that @KemiBadenoch used footage of soldiers in Derry during Bloody Sunday in this video promoting the actions of the British Army.

It’s disgusting, deeply offensive and an insult to the innocent civil rights protestors who soldiers killed that day.

[Micheál Martin @MichealMartinTD]

Congratulations to Cllr Cillian Keane on his selection as Fianna Fáil candidate in the Galway West Bye-Election.

He is young and dynamic, with a great commitment to public service. He will make a difference.

[Thomas Byrne @ThomasByrneTD]

I am in Vienna 🇦🇹

🔵 Meeting with Foreign Minister
🔵 Meeting with Europe Minister
🔵 Representing Ireland at OSCE

Proud to ensure Ireland’s voice is heard internationally and privileged to work on your behalf in preparing Ireland’s EU Presidency.

🇮🇪🇪🇺

[Ronan McGreevy @RMcGreevy1301]

As a country we are great at remembering those who died for Ireland. They have streets, train stations, GAA grounds, tower blocks etc named after them.
We are utterly lousy at remembering those who lived for Ireland. Of course, Dublin Airport should be named after Seán Lemass. He was the transformational Taoiseach, but, as Minister for Industry and Commerce, he knew air travel would nullify Ireland's geographical disadvantages and he was right. Dublin Airport was opened up under his watch in 1940, he was the driving force behind Shannon Airport too, first with the flying boats at Foynes and then as Rineanna (which became Shannon Airport) later.
He had the foresight to buy a fleet of Constellations for an Irish transatlantic service and was furious when the inter-party government sold them off as a folly Ireland couldn't afford.
He founded Aer Lingus in 1936 with his trusted side-kick John Leydon who together were responsible for setting up so many semi-states that have served the State well. Duty free, the first in the world, was also introduced on Lemass's watch (1947).
These alone would merit the airport named after him, but there isn't even a plaque to commemorate his birthplace at No.2 Capel Street. All who served as Taoiseach should have a plaque at their birthplace or their family home. (Charles Haughey already has in Castlebar).
Aside from the Jack Lynch Tunnel, I can't think of anything significant that is named after a former Taoiseach.
Like all leaders, they had their strengths and weaknesses, but they all contributed to the peaceful, stable state we have today and they should be remembered.
https://t.co/SokqKZbLmx

[Albert Dolan TD @albertdolan_]

You Can’t Trust What You Can’t See, That’s Why I’m Doing This Work. Transparency is the foundation for trust in public spending. (1/4)

[John Aldridge @Realaldo474]

i know we're only in the play offs but we've had nothing to shout about for years !and at last we've hope,these lads can hopefully galvanise and get a lot of belief going forward like we did under big jack.A massive shout out for the players but troy parrott to score 5 in 2 against 2 good teams was class ☘️

[Ireland Football ⚽️🇮🇪 @IrelandFootball]

Troy Parrott, take your place on the pantheon of Irish greats 🇮🇪

[Pat Leahy @PatLeahyIT]

Government seeks emergency planning powers to speed up infrastructure delivery

https://t.co/bG0OTTULNx

[Thomas Byrne @ThomasByrneTD]

✍️ In @offalyindo, I write about what it means for Ireland - and for the EU - as Offaly man, Séamus Boland, becomes the first Irishman to become President of the European Economic and Social Committee.

🇮🇪🇪🇺

@smsboland @EESC_President @EU_EESC

[Jamie Long @_Jamie_Long_]

Martin was a true patriot & giant of Irish politics, north & south; always available to offer insight to those who sought it. As quoted in his biography, Martin remarked of himself, "My only ambition is to serve Ireland" - and no more need be said. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

[The Irish Times @IrishTimes]

Martin Mansergh, Fianna Fáil adviser and key figure in peace process, dies aged 78 https://t.co/b2LsyDgDZp

[Pat Leahy @PatLeahyIT]

This is sad news
https://t.co/yrkqtU73l6

[UCL Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment @TheBartlettUCL]

The Bartlett ranked #1 in the UK 🏆

The Bartlett has been ranked UK’s #1 university for built environment studies according to @guardian University Guide 2026, for the Architecture and Construction, Surveying and Planning subject rankings.

🔗 Read more: https://t.co/ZjxOaDln4e

[James Carville @JamesCarville]

Our party is headed for a civilized civil war. It’s vital that we have it, and even more vital that we delay it. My latest in @nytimes https://t.co/O56YhvtHKY