FF/FG/Green Government - Part 3

Ah stop, 10 years to investigate the siteserv sale deal and Anglo. Beggars belief.

I think they should have been investigating the entire Irish Water superquango setup. There was ample evidence of shady dealings. Cronyism and Corruption galore.

For example...

Jerry Grant took over from Tierney at Irish Water. Grant was managing director of RPS from 2002 until 2012 before he joined Irish Water. Tierney was Dublin City Manager from 2006 to 2013. RPS advised DCC on the Poolbeg incinerator project which cost the state almost €100million with more than €30million going to RPS even though the original contract was for €8.3million. Nice. The EU found that his contract did not conform with EU law!! How did he get Irish Water gig when he failed so badly in DCC on Poolbeg?

Look at John Tierney's pension. When he joined Irish Water he made a deal that his pension (470,000) was payable as soon as his contract ended. In DCC he wasnt entitled to his pension until 60. He left Irish Water after 3 years aged 57. The special deal was signed off by Hogan. Lessons were promised at the time.

I could go on. All the contracts should be looked at.

Irish Water will spend nearly €86 million on consultants, contractors and legal advice (thejournal.ie)

Irish Water will spend nearly €86 million on consultants, contractors and legal advice.

IRISH WATER WILL spend just under €86 million on consultants, contractors and legal advice as part of an overall budget of up to €180 million to establish itself, the Oireachtas Environment Committee heard today.

Marko, please adjust your blindfold. More later on expenses and IW bonuses.

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"A glorious, god-awful mess has been made of Irish Water. We've ended up with a system now that no rational person would have invented if they had sat down to put this kind of system together. The hope must be that it will work lamely until some sort of coherent system is put in place."

Alan Dukes 2015.

With Irish Water setup? Corruption. 100%. With a good dollop of Cronyism. Nice baiting though 😂

You?

Unfortunately (for you) they wont let me investigate and anyway I think they deleted a lot of minutes 😂

The setup was handy in terms of governance and oversight. Didn't Tierney refuse to answer questions on it...

Troubled water: Matter of time before Irish Water is submerged in another major crisis (irishexaminer.com)

Born under a cloud of opprobrium back in 2013, amid accusations of squandered State funds during its establishment and the almighty row over water charges, it was intended to revitalise the country’s crumbling water infrastructure. The utility is neither fish nor fowl; it’s run on a commercial basis, as a subsidiary of Ervia, but, since it can’t collect water charges from households, it’s publicly funded.

Despite the public funding — to the tune of €1.4bn in 2021 — the utility is exempt from audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, the State’s accountant, with private consultants Deloitte instead doing the honours since 2014. More recently, some of the strains of that particular public/private contradiction have begun to show.

There are no records of some meetings Phil Hogan had about Irish Water (thejournal.ie)

NO RECORDS OF what was said during two meetings between Phil Hogan and Bord Gáis over Irish Water in the summer of 2012 exist, it has emerged.

RTÉ’s This Week programme reported yesterday that there are significant gaps in information about what was discussed between Bord Gáis and the Department of Environment in the first six months of the roll out of Irish Water.

When controversy arose over the new semi-state’s spend on consultants earlier this year Hogan told reporters on 15 January that he was not specifically aware of how much was spent on consultants.

Just when Siteserv was being investigated (after they won the metering contract)

NEW: Transcript Proves Hogan Misled Oireachtas on Set-up Costs of Irish Water (fiannafail.ie)

Fianna Fáil Environment Spokesperson Barry Cowen has provided evidence to the Dáil that the Environment Minister Phil Hogan misled the Oireachtas about the set-up costs of Irish Water.

Deputy Cowen has provided a transcript from the Oireachtas Environment Committee in November 2012, showing Minister Hogan outlining set-up costs for Irish Water of €10 million. This came three months after we now know that the Economic Management Council had secretly approved funding of €180 million to set up Irish Water.

Deputy Cowen Explained, “Either Minister Hogan deliberately lied about how much taxpayers’ money was being spent on setting up Irish Water, or he accidentally gave a gross underestimation to the Oireachtas Environment Committee in November 2012. Either way, we now know as a result of yesterday’s PAC meeting that when Minister Hogan publicly stated that the cost would be €10 million, he knew that €180 million had already been committed three months previously.

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And the best part is that FG wanted to privatise our precious water!