Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We all know the origins of and reasons behind the Further Revised Estimates. They are the result of the Government's mismanagement of the process to deliver the national children's hospital. We are well aware that there are many outstanding questions about how we arrived at this sorry state of affairs, as indicated in the Minister's apology to the House last week. When was he first informed of the potential for an overrun which, in the Government's words, crystalised some months thereafter? There have been many meanderings, as well as a great deal of secrecy. Attempts have been made to hide behind freedom of information protocols in relation to unanswered questions. I expect the same procrastination not to be in vogue when PwC looks for information which was not forthcoming when I asked for it recently. There will be ongoing and continued scrutiny by the relevant Oireachtas committees. The Secretary General of the Minister for Finance's Department will appear before one of the committees in the coming days which will provide an opportunity for further attempts to be made on the part of Members of the House to establish if it was the case that in rushing the project in order to maximise political gains from it, the Government took its eye off the ball in the approval process and the contracts associated with it. Obviously, the contracts as negotiated have proved to be porous.

While the information the Minister for Finance has provided says a lot, unfortunately, it does not say enough. The Minister said he was bringing forward proposals on how best to provide for contracts such as this. That pre-empts and is not exclusive from the Government's perspective because it may well be that the further recommendations will be made on foot of the information that will emanate from the investigation. The Minister will be conscious of the questions asked and the answers that will flow back from officials in his Department and others. For example, I asked him last week about the €500 million made available for the project by the European Investment Bank, but I have yet to receive a reply. I expect that a process was entered into with the bank, as that is predominantly the case, and that there is a reporting mechanism between the Government and the bank in respect of its investment. It must be borne in mind that when the bank made the offer originally, it amounted to approximately 50% of the total cost of the project, albeit at this juncture, it is no more than 30%. We will be seeking to establish in the coming weeks and months whether there is a handle on the costs. Have they been arrested and can the Government assure the public and the Members who represent them that it will not bring forward Further Revised Estimates on top of the €100 million in the Estimates before us? It does not stop at that because there is €450 million to be made up. The Minister says that in the spring statement he will give us details of the effect on capital expenditure under the national development plan next year and in subsequent years. I hope that information will be forthcoming.

I have perused some of the detail in the Minister's script. He said €16 million was being taken from the Department of Community and Rural Development and the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. It is explained as "an updating of the scheduled draw-down of €16 million from the two Project Ireland regeneration funds which are being profiled for expenditure throughout the course of 2019 and 2020 without delays in project planning, design and delivery." To me, that is gobbledygook. The money is being spent over the course of 2019 and 2020, but €16 million is being taken off. The Minister went on to say €13 million would be taken off in 2019, but he did not provide the details of where. That is the information our constituents want. If the Taoiseach wants to say, as he did in the House yesterday, that we should not scaremonger or give the impression that the knock-on effects of the overruns will be felt in every item of capital expenditure in our constituencies, the Government must prove it to us. From which rural and community development projects is the €3 million being taken? What regeneration projects are affected? Is the €13 million being taken from the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government in the same area and what exactly does it contain?

Further, there is re-profiling of payments of €4 million under certain programmes of investment in the Department of Communications, Climate Change and Environment. Insofar as the Minister wishes to enlighten us, that is not enough. In the coming days I hope and expect to receive further clarification of exactly what is involved.

There is €3 million from the re-profiling of investment under the flood risk management programme of the Office of Public Works to allow for capacity to be built over the course of the NDP period. What are the bread and butter details of the projects affected? Flood relief and flood management works are ongoing - I am told that they will continue in the future - on the River Shannon in my constituency, but what projects are being lost? What commitments can I maintain when my constituents ask about inclusion of projects or about the knock-on effect?

There is €2 million through changes to the timing of payments related to certain capital works by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Again, a commitment was given by the Government to me and my colleagues in my constituency about an arts centre in Tullamore. It was approved ten years ago, but it has been re-profiled, to use the Minister's word, to cut the cloth to measure. Extra expenditure is needed which we were told was in the offing, but now we are being told that €2 million is being cut from the budget for it. My constituents in Tullamore need a commitment one way or the other in that regard. They have raised between €180,000 and €200,000 for the project. Will they have to raise the same amount again? That is what I need to know and it is what I am expected to know from the details put before the House and its elected representatives.

There are other similar details which we will seek to clarify in the coming days through written applications and confirmations that I would expect to receive from the various Departments or the Minister's Department as the lead Department because ultimately it was his decision based on his consultations with his colleagues in the Cabinet that led to this. Make no mistake, however, this is something that could have been taking place if the information had been brought to us last September. Despite the fact that the Minister did not say something during his consultations with the Department of Health on current expenditure - I accept his word in that regard - I cannot understand how he never asked at any stage how the Department was getting on, whether capital expenditure was on target and within profile or whether he would have to go before the Dáil to rectify the position in the coming year. That question was not asked and in the absence of it being asked we are only now debating the revisions before us. Because of the delay and procrastination I mentioned we do not have the specific details. Therefore, I will insist on receiving and expect to be given minute details in order that we can be straight with our constituents on various projects throughout the country, which is no more than they would expect.

See this speech in context