Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein)

Is the Minister aware that a British company, Balfour Beatty, has been awarded a €400 million contract for the maintenance of Bord Gáis? Is he aware that this company was fined £1.2 million in 1997 following the collapse of the tunnel at Heathrow Airport, which it built? Is the Minister aware that, in 1989, the company was fined £500,000 after a train derailed on a section of the line laid by that company? In 2006 it was fined £7.5 million after a train crash cost four lives and 100 injuries on a section of rail line the company maintained. In 2007, it was fined £180,000 after a fatal electrocution of one of its line maintenance workers. In 2008 it was fined £2.25 million after the Serious Fraud Office found the company guilty of false accounting. In 2009 it was fined £5.2 million by the Office of Fair Trading for corrupt practices in securing construction contracts. Given the record of Balfour Beatty, does the Minister think it is a suitable company to have responsibility for the safety of the gas network?

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