Kenny to confront Ahern in Dáil on Punchestown centre funding

CHARLIE MCCREEVY and Joe Walsh’s fast-tracking of €15m funding for the Punchestown event centre will be held up today as a classic example of the Government’s wasteful spending in the Celtic Tiger days.

The Department of Agriculture paid €217,000 for the development of the Co Kildare venue this year, in what is expected to be the final instalment in the €14.8m bill. This Thursday's publication of Government expenditure estimates will reveal if the entire bill has finally been covered, almost four years after the Minister for Finance and Minister for Agriculture agreed to 100% State funding of the project.

Almost €7m of public funds the entire cost of the project was set aside in 2000 for the centre before the final plan was even submitted by the developers.

The €7m was allocated in the Revised Estimates for Public Spending, published on March 22, 2000. At that point the developers had not been officially informed the full funding was being provided and two weeks later, they informed the Department of Agriculture of proposed changes to the project, which resulted in its cost doubling.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny is expected to raise the Punchestown affair with the Taoiseach today in the Dáil.

Mr Kenny is expected to hold up the approval of the expenditure, which did not adhere to the guidelines for the evaluation of major capital projects, s an embodiment of how Mr McCreevy turned a multi-billion euro surplus into a €2bn deficit.

While a multitude of worthy projects across the country had to submit a plethora of forms and wait lengthy periods to receive funding, the Punchestown centre had its entire funding approved in a matter of weeks.

Yesterday FG chairman Tom Hayes said was unacceptable that this project was not subject to open competition, through a public tendering process.

"While I am conscious that there was a genuine need for an equestrian centre in this country, the manner in which the decision took place to fund such a centre at Punchestown is utterly disgraceful.

"There are plenty of other agricultural centres throughout the country Galway, Mallow, Navan or Tipperary Racecourses which could have catered for a facility similar to that in Punchestown and no doubt they would have shown an interest or even submitted proposals, had they been given the opportunity to do so."

He said that what transpired was a cosy deal between Mr McCreevy and Mr Walsh, which was characteristic of Fianna Fáil backroom politics.