Squandered money count

donegal_road

yesterday, I started to think of the many different government projects where huge amounts public money was squandered, and because today is budget day, I thought it might be interesting to put heads together and see how big a figure can be reached, of money that was wasted, or disappeared without trace in government projects since approx 1999.

I'll kick it off with these two:

the E -voting machines: €54 million

Mater children's hospital planning: €26 million


Total so far: €80 million

smash

County Donegal as a whole.... billions :pac:

When I was drunk the other night I spent 20 quid on pizza and threw it straight up once I'd eaten it. Total waste.

Where To

Money spent by the general public in the last twenty years on booze, tobacco, tanning salons and designer clothes;

Untold billions.

cml387

Flogging the Irish Languange revival dead horse: 1.75 Squillion

Where To

smash wrote: »

County Donegal as a whole.... billions :pac:

I would report your post but unfortunately it's true

SEPT 23 1989

State funeral for Charles J Haughey

DazMarz

Government Jet...

SEPT 23 1989

Mary Harneys haircuts

Shane Ross and Nick Webb had a book out called 'Wasters' a couple of years back detailing all the white elephant projects that money was flushed down the tube on.

squod

Re-surfacing roads and digging them back up again a month later. My absolute favourite.

About half of the 750 odd Quangos that this country has.....

....each with a CEO on fat salaries/pensions etc

Bertie's makeup

SEPT 23 1989

TheTorment wrote: »

About half of the 750 odd Quangos that this country has.....

....each with a CEO on fat salaries/pensions etc

Parasites leeching off the State

Fromthetrees

The plan to build a big shiny new prison, it's cost 10's of millions so far and all they have to show for it is a fucking field, the fucking incompetent fucktards.

TheTorment

TheTorment wrote: »

About half of the 750 odd Quangos that this country has.....

....each with a CEO on fat salaries/pensions etc

While im on about Ross book i can remember vaguely he was on about some quango set up for a 'boat restoration project' (Cant remember which though).

The boat sank yet the company staff were still drawing salaries up to 18 months later.

Did even the whole conception of the Bertie Bowl cost much does anyone know?

donegal_road

Deleted User wrote: »

While im on about Ross book i can remember vaguely he was on about some quango set up for a 'boat restoration project' (Cant remember which though).

The boat sank yet the company staff were still drawing salaries up to 18 months later.

reminds me of the Jeanie Johnston famine ship project. Original cost estimated to be €5.8m, ran over budget to almost €14m.
In the end it would have cost a fraction of this to fly all the pieces over to New York and build the thing there instead.

donegal_road

Deleted User wrote: »

Did even the whole conception of the Bertie Bowl cost much does anyone know?

€43 million

sheikhnguyen

The army buying Anti Tank Missiles. We have spent tens of millions of the MILAN and on the FGM-148 Javelin (the Javelin has cost at least $12.5 million dollars). In my opinion the Irish Army should be disbanded but I know it is kept around for 2 reasons, 1 is to guarantee the civil power and 2 is to make sure we pay a lesser rate of interest on the bond markets (an army is one of the criteria the rating agencies use to quantify their ratings). That said we have no need for anti tank missiles, none at all. If we are fighting a war with a country that is capable of transporting tanks to Ireland we have already lost the war. They are a massive waste of money.

Samba

The spire of Dublin, aka the monument of sh1te. Take it down and sell it for scrap metal!

I was almost going to have a good moan about how the health system was neglected all those years, yet they probably would have squandered the funds anyway. :rolleyes:

Millenium clock

What a pile of shíte that was

Frank Black

Anglo

srsly78

sheikhnguyen wrote: »

The army buying Anti Tank Missiles. We have spent tens of millions of the MILAN and on the FGM-148 Javelin (the Javelin has cost at least $12.5 million dollars). In my opinion the Irish Army should be disbanded but I know it is kept around for 2 reasons, 1 is to guarantee the civil power and 2 is to make sure we pay a lesser rate of interest on the bond markets (an army is one of the criteria the rating agencies use to quantify their ratings). That said we have no need for anti tank missiles, none at all. If we are fighting a war with a country that is capable of transporting tanks to Ireland we have already lost the war. They are a massive waste of money.

Have you ever considered that maybe they were for use by Irish troops whilst peace-keeping abroad? Or should our lads just surrender once armour shows up?

I would imagine that anti-tank weaponry is a basic requirement for a modern military.

michael.dublin

this is from www.irishtimes.com

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0305/1224312795497.html


€650 million spent on unrealised projects


€30m


Children’s hospital

Some €30 million has been spent by the hospital board – mainly in fees to architects, engineers and other consultants or experts – in progressing its plans. The Government says a revised plan will be produced in the coming months.

€42m


Dart Underground

Plans and land acquisition for the Dart Underground have cost millions, but the project has been delayed indefinitely under the new capital spending plans.

€50m


Media Lab Europe

The high-technology “seed bed”, based in Dublin’s Liberties, was run jointly by the government and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was one of Mr Ahern’s most favoured projects. Founded in 2000, it went into liquidation a few years later, with consultants describing its output as “dismal”, “surprisingly weak” and “mediocre”.

€130m

PPARS

The HSE’s information technology project started small, at an estimated cost of €9 million in 1997, and ballooned to a cost of €130 million in 2004, before being put on hold by the Health Service Executive in 2007.

€55m


E-voting

Martin Cullen ordered more than 700 of the machines at a cost of €51 million, only to have them placed in storage in 2004 when security concerns emerged. Attempts to sell them have so far been unsuccessful.

€1.5m


Hospital co-location

Almost €1.5 million was paid in legal and financial costs associated with the now abandoned plans to develop co-located private hospitals. Project agreements for each of these hospitals expired in March 2011.

€44m


Decentralisation

Millions have been spent on acquiring sites for the Government’s decentralisation programme in locations where plans to transfer public service offices and State agencies have been either postponed or axed.

€18m
Metro West

Millions has been spent on the design of this section of the Metro. It, too, has been shelved indefinitely as a result of cutbacks to capital spending plans.

€150m

Metro North

The decision not to proceed with the Metro North rail project as part of the 2012-2016 capital investment programme will cost the State more than €150 millionincluding compensation to the project bidders.

€100m


Bertie Bowl

Millions were spent on consultancy fees and the clearances of the Abbotstown development in preparation for a national stadium. Political opposition from Fianna Fáil’s coalition partners, the PDs, ultimately scuppered the project, although the FAI went on to relocate its headquarters at the site.

€42m

Thornton Hall

The Government spent €30 million acquiring land for the Thornton Hall “superprison”, which has been delayed indefinitely. A further €12 million has been spent on original plans for the prison and the Central Mental Hospital. Both designs have since been scrapped. Plans for a scaled-down version of the prison have also been long-fingered.

fasttalkerchat

srsly78 wrote: »

Have you ever considered that maybe they were for use by Irish troops whilst peace-keeping abroad? Or should our lads just surrender once armour shows up?

I would imagine that anti-tank weaponry is a basic requirement for a modern military.

Would the Irish Army ever come up against a tank?

donegal_road

michael.dublin wrote: »

this is from www.irishtimes.com

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0305/1224312795497.html


€650 million spent on unrealised projects


€30m


Children’s hospital

Some €30 million has been spent by the hospital board – mainly in fees to architects, engineers and other consultants or experts – in progressing its plans. The Government says a revised plan will be produced in the coming months.

€42m


Dart Underground

Plans and land acquisition for the Dart Underground have cost millions, but the project has been delayed indefinitely under the new capital spending plans.

€50m


Media Lab Europe

The high-technology “seed bed”, based in Dublin’s Liberties, was run jointly by the government and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was one of Mr Ahern’s most favoured projects. Founded in 2000, it went into liquidation a few years later, with consultants describing its output as “dismal”, “surprisingly weak” and “mediocre”.

€130m

PPARS

The HSE’s information technology project started small, at an estimated cost of €9 million in 1997, and ballooned to a cost of €130 million in 2004, before being put on hold by the Health Service Executive in 2007.

€55m


E-voting

Martin Cullen ordered more than 700 of the machines at a cost of €51 million, only to have them placed in storage in 2004 when security concerns emerged. Attempts to sell them have so far been unsuccessful.

€1.5m


Hospital co-location

Almost €1.5 million was paid in legal and financial costs associated with the now abandoned plans to develop co-located private hospitals. Project agreements for each of these hospitals expired in March 2011.

€44m


Decentralisation

Millions have been spent on acquiring sites for the Government’s decentralisation programme in locations where plans to transfer public service offices and State agencies have been either postponed or axed.

€18m
Metro West

Millions has been spent on the design of this section of the Metro. It, too, has been shelved indefinitely as a result of cutbacks to capital spending plans.

€150m

Metro North

The decision not to proceed with the Metro North rail project as part of the 2012-2016 capital investment programme will cost the State more than €150 millionincluding compensation to the project bidders.

€100m


Bertie Bowl

Millions were spent on consultancy fees and the clearances of the Abbotstown development in preparation for a national stadium. Political opposition from Fianna Fáil’s coalition partners, the PDs, ultimately scuppered the project, although the FAI went on to relocate its headquarters at the site.

€42m

Thornton Hall

The Government spent €30 million acquiring land for the Thornton Hall “superprison”, which has been delayed indefinitely. A further €12 million has been spent on original plans for the prison and the Central Mental Hospital. Both designs have since been scrapped. Plans for a scaled-down version of the prison have also been long-fingered.

Thanks for the article, makes for sobering reading

Samba

Samba wrote: »

The spire of Dublin, aka the monument of sh1te. Take it down and sell it for scrap metal!

I was almost going to have a good moan about how the health system was neglected all those years, yet they probably would have squandered the funds anyway. :rolleyes:

The spire was totally unneccessary. Nelson's pillar is gone since the mid 1960's so it was hardly a pressing issue to replace it but of course it now stands as a monument to the great length to which the egos running this nation could stretch.

fasttalkerchat

Was metro north dropped?? Why?

fasttalkerchat

Deleted User wrote: »

The spire was totally unneccessary. Nelson's pillar is gone since the mid 1960's so it was hardly a pressing issue to replace it but of course it now stands as a monument to the great length to which the egos running this nation could stretch.

I wonder could we get the new IRA to bomb it??

Rented Mule

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Port Tunnel.

From Wiki:

The tender price for construction of the tunnel was €457 million. The final project cost was brought to €752 million by land acquisition, design, insurance, legal and other services, plus supervision by Brown & Root.

Construction commenced in June 2001 and the tunnel was originally due to open in 2005 after an elapsed time of 43 months. It eventually opened in December 2006, giving an elapsed time of 66 months.

krudler

Pat Kenny's human face masks: few thousand, plus the effects team to hide his big lizard head.

kincsem

TheTorment wrote: »

About half of the 750 odd Quangos that this country has.....

....each with a CEO on fat salaries/pensions etc

2,600+ quangos. Great bunch of lads.

up for anything

http://www.herald.ie/news/those-mindblowing-expenses-and-where-they-all-went-1906311.html

As the curtain comes down on John O'Donoghue's tenure as Ceann Comhairle, the actual cost to taxpayers for the curtains in his office was more than €11,000.

Mr O'Donoghue has been criticised for the excessive spending when it came to furnishing his office.

The Ceann Comhairle forked out almost €30,000 on carpets for his office, while the cost of redecorating the toilets for him and his staff came to more than €58,000.

And whatever about the future of his Dail seat, his office chair cost taxpayers a staggering €1,058.

All these trappings of office were itemised in figures released by the Office of Public Works.

The figures show that more than €100,000 was spent on renovating and furnishing the Ceann Comhairle's office two years ago.

For some reason that stuck in my craw more than most of the overspend by public figures - perhaps it was because it was amounts that I could imagine rather than those millions and millions that have disappeared over the years.

Boombastic

up for anything wrote: »

For some reason that stuck in my craw more than most of the overspend by public figures - perhaps it was because it was amounts that I could imagine rather than those millions and millions that have disappeared over the years.

Curtains from France no less, couldn't get the quality in Ireland:rolleyes:

fasttalkerchat

up for anything wrote: »

For some reason that stuck in my craw more than most of the overspend by public figures - perhaps it was because it was amounts that I could imagine rather than those millions and millions that have disappeared over the years.

Those ones annoy me because the person doing the spending knows how much an office chair and a set of curtains costs.
When it comes to consultants fees, I would tell them where to go if they asked for more than €50 per hour, but in reality its normal to pay thousands to consultants.

fasttalkerchat

Boombastic wrote: »

Curtains from France no less, couldn't get the quality in Ireland:rolleyes:

At that price he could set up a company to make bespoke curtains, employing 3 people!

Boombastic

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

At that price he could set up a company to make bespoke curtains, employing 3 people!

And the material woven to his specification:pac:

OldNotWIse

Samba wrote: »

The spire of Dublin, aka the monument of sh1te. Take it down and sell it for scrap metal!

I was almost going to have a good moan about how the health system was neglected all those years, yet they probably would have squandered the funds anyway. :rolleyes:

They should move it to lower abbey street - a nice big, landmark, symbolic syringe

Frank Black

fasttalkerchat wrote: »

Was metro north dropped?? Why?

Not sure, heard some radio show mention something about an "economic downturn" there a while ago.

donvito99

Metro north planning - C.€120million

sheikhnguyen

srsly78 wrote: »

Have you ever considered that maybe they were for use by Irish troops whilst peace-keeping abroad? Or should our lads just surrender once armour shows up?

I would imagine that anti-tank weaponry is a basic requirement for a modern military.

Never happened. No UN peace keeping force would ever be deployed to an area where they would be faced by an enemy equipped with armour. You are right about a modern military requiring an anti tank capability, however Ireland will never ever be capable of fighting a modern war, thus the use of modern weapons is redundant. Again any country capable of transporting vehicles that require guided missiles to destroy to Ireland have already defeated us. The money would be better spent on the garda siochana or on fishery patrol vessels.

pontia

why have we even got an army ? if were invaded they couldent defend a wet bag,waste of money

MagicSean

Selling the nations telecoms infrastructure.

Giving away the M50 tolling at a ridiculous cost and then buying it back instead of just taking it.

Rented Mule

Has anyone mentioned the number of Tribunals that went on for decades with nothing to show for them ?

fasttalkerchat

pontia wrote: »

why have we even got an army ? if were invaded they couldent defend a wet bag,waste of money

Having an army allows us to borrow money at a lower rate. Funding an army however, is a waste!

fasttalkerchat

black francis wrote: »

Not sure, heard some radio show mention something about an "economic downturn" there a while ago.

On 27 October 2010, An Bord Pleanála granted a Railway Order for Metro North

Maybe news reached them in early 2011!

sheikhnguyen

pontia wrote: »

why have we even got an army ? if were invaded they couldent defend a wet bag,waste of money

Couldn't agree more. However we have it for 2 reasons:
1. To guarantee the civil power aka protect the government from a rake of us with shotguns.....
2. To enable us to get low rates on the international bond markets. A standing army is indicative of a government that is stable.

The air force and the navy both serve useful purposes it is the army that is a giant waste of money!!!

Aenaes

Paying Presidential salary and pensions.

donegal_road

Rented Mule wrote: »

Has anyone mentioned the number of Tribunals that went on for decades with nothing to show for them ?

was just looking them up

Mahon, Moriarity, the Travers Report alone cost a staggering €500 million






.

fasttalkerchat

Aenaes wrote: »

Paying Presidential salary and pensions.

I think the president does have an important role when it comes to tourism and north-south relations.
You can't expect someone not necessarily from a political background to fund themselves to be president so I think expenses and the average industrial wage would be suitable.