Pearse Doherty: €50m wasted on failed Irish Rail system

And finally, there are more than 5 million Irish people now on the Irish-Irish Immigration Service. A service that helps with immigration, and there are more than 10,000 people on the schedule. And without a doubt, a lot of money. Now it's clear that the people want to raise up to 100,000 euros every week in order to ensure that the NTA has the right to keep this country safe. And in addition to that, you have to give 100,000 more euros to ensure that this country is safe in the future. The people want to, and you want to, make sure that we keep this country safe. Tánaiste, once again the public is left asking, who's taking responsibility for the extraordinary waste of taxpayers' money that's become the hallmark of your government? The latest revelations surrounding the failed Irish Rail traffic management system, they're absolutely staggering. More than €50 million has already been blown, has been written off, on a project that has failed safety testing, is more than two years behind schedule, and by any reasonable measure has been a complete and utter failure. But incredibly, the waste doesn't end there, would you? We now learn that taxpayers are footing the bill of €100,000 every single week while a decision is made on whether the contract should even be terminated. And on top of that, the government's now spending a further €200,000 simply to find out how this debacle happened in the first place. And the public are rightly asking, Tánaiste, when does the waste of public money stop under your government? And while tens of millions of euros have been squandered on this failed project, commuters are being told that there's no funding to deliver new bus services this year, no new rail services this year, no new rural services this year. And that, Tánaiste, is the cost of your government waste. Every euro squandered on failed projects is a euro that cannot be invested in better buses, better rail services, and better public transport for people who rely on it every single day. Tánaiste, we now know from Eireann's own briefing papers that they asked for this contract to be terminated a year ago. They warned that they had lost confidence in the contractor's ability to deliver the project and recommended that the contract be terminated. The department was told last October that there were risks to this project, that there were red flags, and surely the minister should have been doing his job and intervened to find out what was going on. But your government has allowed this to continue, and allows it to continue today. Here we are a year later, over €50 million written off, taxpayers still losing €100,000 every single week, and still there's no end in sight. Tánaiste, it's not simply about just one failed contract. It's also about a culture of waste that is tolerated, accountability that is absent, and nobody in government ever appears to carry the responsibility for the millions in public money that is squandered. And I've lost count of the number of times that I've stood here and have asked you, what are you going to do to end the constant waste of public money? So I'm going to ask you again directly, on behalf of people who are really frustrated at the continual waste, €50 million is not a small amount of money. Completely blown, written off, and now we're told that they're paying €100,000 every week, and no end in sight when that is going to end. That's the definition of public waste. So who's going to be held responsible for this latest fiasco? Why are the taxpayers still being forced to pay €100,000 every single week while this drags on? And what immediate steps are you as a government going to take to stop further public money being poured into a project that has already become one of the most expensive failures in the history of our public transport system? Thank you very much, Lasko and Córda, and thank you very much, Deputy Doherty. The first thing I want to say is how you characterise government spending just doesn't tally with actually the reality of the situation. There's more than €10 billion being allocated for public transport projects right across the country. The overwhelming majority of those projects are on budget and on time, and making a real and meaningful difference. And if you want to look at the list of projects delivered on time and on budget by this government, look at the National Broadband Plan, a plan you actively opposed. You didn't want National Broadband Plan rolled out to rural communities in Donegal, rural communities right across the country. We rolled it out. No, you opposed it. You opposed it vigorously. It's the fact it was only my political party, Fianna Gael, that supported it. We delivered it. We delivered it on time. We delivered it on budget. If you want to look at things like the Rossair Europort, the Lewis Cross City, Woodbrook train station, the new platform at Kent Station in Cork, these examples of public money being well used and resulting in projects being delivered on time and on budget. And we're investing more and more in public transport, as we should and as we can, as a result of the strength of our economy. You're right, though, to highlight a specific issue in relation to this traffic management system. So the National Train Control Centre building was delivered on time and within budget. Let's acknowledge that. It's currently in use by Ayrn Marderan and by around 100 members of An Garda Síochána. And the new traffic management system to oversee signalling and oversee other railway systems has been delayed beyond its completion date. That is factually correct. The Minister for Transport met with the NTA. He also met with the contractor, Indra. You asked what's he doing. He's engaging intensively. He met with them in August last year. He had further meetings with them again in January of this year in relation to the delivery of the TMS as soon as possible. There's now been a re-baselined programme agreed between Irish Rail, the National Transport Authority and the contractor, Indra. And quite rightly, in Iraq, this committee scrutinised this issue this week, indeed, I think, yesterday as well. I don't accept, though, your characterisation in terms of just accepting that the £50 million is gone and that the taxpayer must fit the bill. And neither does the government. The reality is, at the moment, the Irish Rail accounts have been submitted for consideration to the Department of Transport. They'll also be scrutinised and considered by New Era, who look at all these issues. As you know and as you would expect us to do, there'll be a contract in place, and we need to work through the issues here. So what we shouldn't do today is jump to any conclusions in relation to where that bill will fall due. And I will absolutely expect the Minister and Irish Rail and New Era to do their roles in terms of ensuring that the terms of the contract are delivered upon as well. I do also want to assure people that there are contingency plans in place from a safety point of view. So from a railway safety perspective, there isn't an issue here. This project is taking longer than it should. There has been no decision made yet in relation to the approval of the annual accounts. They'll be reviewed by the department, they'll be reviewed by New Era, and then they will be published. And there's a way to go here in terms of working through this issue. But the government's record of delivering projects on time, in communities right across this country, is there for all to see. And when things do go wrong, when projects are delayed, it's quite right that Iraq, this committee, is on a cross-party basis, scrutinise these issues as they rightly did yesterday. Deputy Director. This project isn't just delayed. Do you not know what's going on here? The money has been written down. €50 million has been written down in the accounts. Irish Rail has formally recommended to end the contract. To end the contract. They have been saying this since last year. They have no confidence that this can be delivered. This is not just a project that will be delivered in a couple of months' time. And the problem is, with the €50 million that has been written down in terms of the accounts, there is €100,000 that has been paid out on a weekly basis because a decision still hasn't been taken to end this contract. The NTA is telling us that it will take months for the Department and the NTA to make a recommendation. So I say to you very clearly, this is taxpayers' money. The NTA were very clear that there will be no new bus services, there will be no new rail services, there will be no new rural services this year, and yes, the €50 million could have funded some of that. They were very clear yesterday in the committee. So I'm asking you specific questions again. Why is the taxpayer on the hook for €100,000 every week for a project that is not going anywhere? Do you accept that Irish Rail has asked you to end the contract? And when are you going to ensure that this type of waste of public money does not happen? And crucially, what everybody asks me is, who's going to be held accountable for this here? Because it is not good enough for you to come in and shrug your shoulders and just brush off €50 million of taxpayers' money wasted and another €100,000 every single week. Of course it isn't, and of course that's not what I'm doing, Pearce, but I make a great clip on your Instagram, so that's not the truth. I hope you play the full clip. Members, please. It's a very... Allow the Tánaiste to answer. Go raibh maith agat, Alasgane Corda, thank you. And when I'm asked about a serious issue, it's nice to be allowed to respond without a cacophony trying to shout me down every time in this House. I've made a very serious point, Deputy Daugherty, that you shouldn't come into this House, and you shouldn't be making the point that €50 million is lost to the taxpayer when the state is doing its job in making sure that terms and conditions of contracts are scrutinised, that New Era body we've set up to make sure we drive value in the delivery of projects is doing its job as well, when Iroquois committees are doing their job too, and we should allow that process to work its way through. That's all I'm simply saying. I'm also making the point that your categorisation of government spending on public projects is not borne out by the fact. And you ask about €50 million. Do you get as exercised if it was £140 million? Because in the department that you run in Northern Ireland, €140 million is spent on road projects that haven't even started. Haven't even started. €140 million. A department led by a Sinn Féin minister that has wasted €140 million, and thank God the SDLP highlighted that terrible waste. We now move on to the next question from Deputy Ciarán O'Connochain. Oh, there's £300,000 as well. I don't need to pierce. I don't need to. There you go. Deputy Doherty. Deputy Doherty, please resume your seat. Tánaiste, stop provoking him, please. Deputy Ciarán O'Connochain, please. Deputy Doherty. Deputy Doherty, you are out of order. Please. Tánaiste, please. You're out of order, Deputy Doherty. Can I then call on Deputy Ciarán O'Connochain?