The Aontú leader says: “No-one will get into trouble over this, no-one will be held to account.”
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín says the reckless squander of public money will continue “over and over” until there are consequences.
He was speaking in reaction to the news that Iarnrod Eireann (Irish Rail) is to scrap a new €50million software system to control trains.
The state-owned rail company said it does not have confidence the planned Traffic Management System (TMS) can be deployed. It is unlikely to be used and so Irish Rail has written down the value in its accounts.
The Meath West TD said the tens of millions comes after similar scandals with abandoned IT systems in The Arts Council and RTE.
He highlighted how it follows spending scandals such as the Dáil bike shed and the HSE hospital bike shed and other numerous examples of waste of taxpayer money, from e-voting and the Dáil printer.
Said Tóibín of the €50 train fiasco: “Under this Government, no one will get into trouble for this. No one will be held to account.
“As a result, it will happen over and over and over again, as sure as night follows day. If we do not enforce accountability, it will continue to happen
“In other countries, such flagrant waste would mean resignation. But in Ireland, no one ever loses their jobs, even when millions are squandered.
“There is public outcry, but no-one ever resigns or loses their position over such cavalier spending of public money.”
His solution is to insert waste clauses in contracts and to create a Junior Ministry for spending.
Said Tóibín: “Aontú has called for accountability to be written into the contracts of senior civil servants. If they spend money in an irresponsible fashion, there has to be a cost to their careers, up to and including losing their job. In every other sphere of work there is accountability, but the higher levels of the public sector.
“Aontú wants a Junior Minister in the Department of The Taoiseach, whose responsibility should be to watch live contracts and make sure expenses are being done carefully. This Junior Minister should report on a weekly basis to the Taoiseach. This would locate accountability at the very top of government.”
