Irish Examiner view: Time to call tech support for Irish Rail

Iarnród Éireann must be asked how and why it wrote off €50m it spent on an IT project which was not fit for purpose

The Irish Rail system, which was to direct the flow of train traffic, was initially forecast for delivery in 2024 at a cost of under €20m, but it was beset by delays and cost overruns. Now it has been discarded. File picture: Iarnród Éireann

Value for money with public expenditure is a topic which surfaces with depressing regularity, and this week provided yet another example of vast sums of money disappearing with little enough to show for the expenditure. 

Readers will have seen the report from Cianan Brennan and Paul Hosford here outlining the Public Accounts Committee’s wish to meet Irish Rail at the “earliest possible” opportunity after it emerged that the company wrote off €50m spent on an IT project which was not fit for purpose.