Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Public Accounts Committee
2011 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 32 - Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
Chapter 6 - Financial Commitments Under Public Private Partnerships
Chapter 26 - Collection of Motor Taxation
Financial Statements 2011 - National Roads Authority
12:00 pm
Mr. Tom O'Mahony:
My understanding of this is that at that time the expectation was that this amount was needed. There is one small detail which I wish to put into the mix as well. We have been talking about 21 carriages as being surplus to requirements. At all stages in this exercise, when the need for 234 was worked out, 12 of the 234 were always envisaged as being back up, which would be available in situations where rail cars go out of service or whatever. If there had been no recession at all and if all of the rail cars were being used to the full extent that was envisaged when these projections were being done, there would be 12 there for back up. Instead of having 12, we have 21.