Coalition TDs split over €50m Irish Water spend

Irish Water’s woes have sparked infighting in government parties with TDs split between giving the agency the benefit of the doubt about its spend on consultants and demanding it explain itself.

Fine Gael’s Simon Harris, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, said there was an immediate need for information.

“It is very unsettling to hear that Irish Water has managed to rack up a bill on behalf of the taxpayer of over €50m to consultants. It is absolutely essential they come before the committee and provide detail of what the €50m was spent on, why it was necessary to spend this much money, why certain issues required consultants rather than being dealt with in-house, and what procurement procedures were used to ensure taxpayers are getting value for their money.”

Labour’s Michael McNamara and Gerald Nash also piled on the pressure. Mr Nash, a PAC member, said people were “astonished” by the fees. Mr McNamara condemned the lack of parliamentary oversight.

“We need to see democratically elected representatives, particular ministers who run departments, being responsible for services that are provided if not directly by their department then by agencies that are appointed by their department.”

But Fine Gael’s Regina Doherty deflected criticism from Irish Water by turning the focus on Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who kicked off the political row, accusing him of forgetting his own largesse with consultants.

“The Fianna Fáil leader has absolutely no credib-ility on this issue... [He] commissioned 145 reports, at a cost of €30m, and he stood over his Government’s spending of €50m of taxpayers’ money on e-voting machines which were never used, and more than €220m on the failed PPARS system.”

Mr Martin slammed Mr McNamara and Mr Nash for lamenting the lack of accountability. He said they were “wringing their hands” about the lack of transparency at Irish Water while their party insisted on its exclusion from freedom of information laws.

Fianna Fáil is to table a motion next week calling for FoI legislation to be amended to include Irish Water, which it dubbed a “super quango”. Environment spokesman Barry Cowen said the money had been spent on “setting up a corporate entity, hiring highly paid executives. and launching glossy public relations campaigns” rather than working on the water infrastructure or supply.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said he would like to see a breakdown of what the €50m was for. “I find it hard to believe it was just for glossy documents like Micheál Martin used to do in the HSE. ”