Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is now €1.7 billion and climbing. The Taoiseach should not talk to anybody in here about yarns. People are quite frankly fed up with yarns, public relations and spin. They want substance, facts and precision.

The Taoiseach made reference to Mr. Paul Quinn, the chief procurement officer. The Taoiseach's defence or response is simply not tenable. It drives a coach and four through circular 12/2010, the protocol for civil servants nominated to the boards of non-commercial State bodies. It reads: "Where there is a significant public policy issue at stake or a disagreement within the board on a major public policy issue, the civil servant should request the Chairman to notify the [relevant] Minister or, failing that, notify the Minister himself-herself." There are serious weaknesses in controls that have not been addressed, despite them having been drawn to the attention of the board or chairperson. We are talking about a €391 million overspend which the Government was alerted to last August. It is the Government's position that the chief procurement officer, who is a civil servant, with loyalty to the Government, the State and the taxpayer, was prevented somehow from telling his line Minister, who is responsible for the overall expenditure of the State, the facts around the alarming growth in expenditure for this project. I do not believe that is a tenable response.

See this speech in context