Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I strongly support the point made by Senator Ross about CIE and Iarnród Éireann. The chairperson of that organisation was recently reappointed to his role. There was a vote of confidence in him from the Government in terms of the way he was organising that business, yet when the Oireachtas looks for action and answers from him, it is not given them.

Two weeks ago I raised the issue of the status of the Dublin interconnector or underground DART, but the week before last we found out there would be a delay of which the Minister for Transport was not informed. I thought that was an amazing saga, but then, to my astonishment, Iarnród Éireann announced on Monday that it would lodge the planning application anyway. Can someone tell us what is going on in that regard? This organisation receives a vast sum of money. It is clear the Minister for Transport is not being informed of what is going on.

When the Oireachtas makes an effort to understand what it is doing and how taxpayers' money is being spent, it is treated with derision. This is an organisation out of control. It rejects any attempt made by the Oireachtas to ensure oversight and proper governance.