Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Why did it not apply? The answer is that Fine Gael had a cosy deal with Bord Gáis through its connections and links with the person who was the author of the NewEra document. It was handed on a plate to a company which clearly did not have the expertise. If it had the expertise, it would not have had to buy in all these extra consultancy services.

Take what the State has in the ESB. There is no difference between pipes and wires when it comes to asset management or between manholes and pylons or poles in terms of the management of an asset and how one details, contains and manages that. It is very clear that we have not heard about what went on between Fine Gael and Bord Gáis. We have not been given the answers. The Minister and Mr. John Tierney are being scapegoated by Fine Gael and Labour Party backbenchers. Mr. John Tierney was brought in during the final days of all of this. The budget was already agreed between Bord Gáis and the Government, or Fine Gael.

The Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, has made some incredible statements over the past couple of days. He was not aware of what was going on but who was? Who handed this lucrative contract to Bord Gáis, for what and what is behind it?

We now have this outrageous situation where there is an agreement to provide bonuses to the staff of Irish Water when there were hard working people in local authorities delivering the water services within the constraints imposed on them. They never got bonuses. Their pay was cut, they had to pay the universal social charge and had all the other cuts imposed on them while the Government is supposedly saving money in Irish Water.

It is establishing another quango, despite the fact its stated intention was to rid the country of quangos. It has created a super qaungo and has given it a phenomenal amount of money. It has set it up in an obscure way where the funds have been taken from the National Pensions Reserve Fund and, therefore, the Minister or the company is not answerable to this Parliament or society. It is reprehensible and something clearly needs to change.

Others spoke about what IBM will do and what all these consultancies will bring to the table while, at the same time, not recognising the inherent system which already exists within State control. One only has to look to the ESB and other utility companies owned by the State that have all the systems on which the Government has spent €180 million.

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