John McGuinness made the call during the Committee meeting this morning on foot of a Prime Time programme on Tuesday which revealed that €81m had been spent on the Poolbeg Incinerator to date, yet not a single brick had been put down on the site. The RTÉ report went on to say that 95% of the cost to date had been paid by the taxpayer, with €4.3m of it spent on public relations.
McGuinness pointed out during the meeting that local authority spending at present cannot be examined by the committee saying that he wants an immediate investigation into Poolbeg's spending. During the meeting, he said what struck him most was that there had been no public comment by those responsible on the €81m spend, and that the public were looking on as Councillors were powerless to do anything about it.
I think it is now a matter of urgent public interest that the Public Accounts Committee examines the proposed Poolbeg incinerator. Not one block has been laid, yet €80 million in taxpayers’ money has been spent on this project since 1999. A total of €29 million alone has been spent on consultants, with more than €4 million of this on public relations.
This is an extraordinary level of spending. It is hard to see how this spending could ever have been justifiable, but in Ireland’s current economy situation it has to be scrutinised at the highest level. In addition, given all of the spending that has taken place, I believe it was unacceptable that none of the parties which sanctioned this spending and are promoting this project agreed to take part in the RTÉ Primetime programme.
The rules which govern the working of the Public Accounts Committee should be updated to allow for local authorities to be held to account for their spending.
In the meantime, I believe that the Comptroller and Auditor General should examine the spending on the Poolbeg project.
I believe the Government should now prioritise the reform of the PAC to allow for local authority spending to be investigated. If the Government does not move on this urgent need I will be bringing forward legislation in Private Members Time to make this change.
John McGuinness TD, Chairman of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee
This is an extraordinary level of spending. It is hard to see how this spending could ever have been justifiable, but in Ireland’s current economy situation it has to be scrutinised at the highest level. In addition, given all of the spending that has taken place, I believe it was unacceptable that none of the parties which sanctioned this spending and are promoting this project agreed to take part in the RTÉ Primetime programme.
The rules which govern the working of the Public Accounts Committee should be updated to allow for local authorities to be held to account for their spending.
In the meantime, I believe that the Comptroller and Auditor General should examine the spending on the Poolbeg project.
I believe the Government should now prioritise the reform of the PAC to allow for local authority spending to be investigated. If the Government does not move on this urgent need I will be bringing forward legislation in Private Members Time to make this change.
John McGuinness TD, Chairman of the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee
Read more: Paul Murphy who produced the piece for Prime Time, blogs about the PoolBeg Incinerator (RTE.ie)
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