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Cost overrun on the National Children’s Hospital project will not delay the Templemore Flood Relief Scheme; same being currently undertaken by the Office of Public Works (OPW).
Tipperary Independent TD Deputy Michael Lowry has confirmed today that further to a number of meetings with Minister Boxer Moran, concerning the Templemore Flood Relief Scheme, he has received assurance that the main scheme in Templemore is progressing and will not be further delayed. This follows the Government decision, [on Tuesday February 12th 2019], in relation to capital reallocations, brought about by the cost overrun on the National Children’s Hospital project.
 Bridge Construction, part of the Templemore Flood Relief Scheme, currently being undertaken by the OPW. As our readers will be aware; the town of Templemore, Co. Tipperary, part of the Templemore / Thurles Municipal district, lies on the River Mall, which drains a catchment area that includes parts of the Kilduff and Devilsbit Mountains, before flowing into the River Suir further downstream.
The town has had a long history of flooding; the most momentous of these having occurred back in December 1968 and even more recently in November 2000, December 2015 and January 2016, with flood waters submerging and overwhelming, in total, some 40 properties.
Deputy Lowry stated: “Following discussion with Minister Kevin Boxer Moran I have been informed by the Minister and the OPW that construction of the River Mall (Templemore) Flood Relief Scheme is currently ongoing. To date, approximately 35% of the works have been completed, which include 450m of new channel excavation, 4 field bridges completed at various locations with another bridge substantially complete, and demolition and site clearance of a commercial property on the Richmond Road. Liaison is ongoing with relevant stakeholders, including local landowners, Inland Fisheries Ireland, the ESB, and Tipperary County Council. It is hoped to have the scheme works substantially completed by the end of 2019”.
Concluding Deputy Lowry stated: “I am very grateful for the support of Minister Boxer Moran and the commitment of the OPW to this project. It is hoped that the scheme of works will be substantially completed by the end of 2019”.
  
 Today, during ‘Leader’s Questions’ in Dáil Éireann, Tipperary Independent Deputy Mr Michael Lowry directed very pertinent questions at the Fine Gael Taoiseach Mr Leo Varadkar, regarding the ongoing controversy surrounding the National Children’s Hospital’s cost overrun, which he rightly stated, has the ordinary working Irish person questioning what they observe as the misappropriation and total misuse of public funding.
Independent TD Mr Michael Lowry addressed Taoiseach Varadkar as follows: “Taoiseach, the most recent controversy regarding the National Children’s Hospital cost overrun has the ordinary working Irish person questioning the misuse of public monies.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been engaged by the Government to explain this gross miscalculation. I am curious to understand what procurement procedure was followed to appoint this firm. You could argue that a conflict of interest exists because of the fact that PwC received in excess of €30 million in fees over the last 9 years for audit and related work with BAM. Taoiseach could you explain why the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C & AG) was not utilised as the watchdog to carry out this function considering their statutory remit is to improve the use of public money and resources and strengthen public accountability.
Is it the case that the C & AG is not adequately staffed to provide this resource? Why are we farming out so much of our Public Service work to a small select group of accountancy and legal firms? Is it accurate to contend that the Public Service no longer has the talent and expertise to conduct such onerous exercises?
At a time when many Irish households struggle with every day costs like childcare, mortgages, rent and insurance; there is a strongly held sentiment on the ground that public monies are being squandered with unnecessary layers of bureaucracy. Growing numbers of quangos and committees of review are established, yet no one is held responsible for costly decisions.
In 2011 both Fine Gael and Labour separately promised to abolish or merge many dozens of what they described as wasteful State agencies. Fine Gael listed 145 quangos, which would be terminated when they came to power. While a total of 62 were terminated from 2011-2017, as many as 40 new agencies have been created, 14 of which involve the merger of old agencies. We now have an estimated 257 quangos in existence, at enormous cost to the exchequer. It is ironic that their existence creates further distance between the Minister or Department in question when policy issues, controversy or blame arises. The quango culture is very much alive and thriving…at a growing cost to the Irish Taxpayer, while at the same time, diminishing even more, the responsibility of the Minister or the Department involved.
In regard to review and due diligence case load, the State should look beyond the top companies in the Services Sector. Lucrative engagement contracts should be extended to less well known firms who have the competence to conduct the work.
Proper due diligence carried out on the allocation of public monies would result in substantial and genuine market competition and would safeguard taxpayers’ money. The nurse’s strike and the widespread support it’s receiving further evidence a growing dissatisfaction amongst front-line public sector workers. Middle Ireland continues to be squeezed financially.
We have money to spend on the top professional accounting and legal firms; money to spend on creating quangos and agencies; money to spend on ever changing costs of new builds; yet we had nurses taking to the picket lines last week, causing huge backlogs in our already overburdened health service.
The cost of administering the State together with so much unaccountable allocations of public monies, is infuriating for a hard pressed workforce.
Taoiseach what measures will you take to reign in the excessive cost of public administration. What measures will you take to eliminate any potential conflicts of interest arising between bodies under scrutiny and those being engaged to carry out the due diligence. Middle Ireland needs to feel that they are getting value for money, but, in reality the fear is that huge amounts of our hard earned money is being spent on the existence of ineffective agencies and quangos.”
You can watch HERE, Deputy Lowry’s questions and An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s reply.
 The sanctioned strike by some 40,000 Irish Nurses and Midwives, over the next three consecutive days this week, has this afternoon been suspended.
The Labour Court, which formally intervened in this dispute today, has recommended that thousands of nurses can now move to an enhanced pay-scale, which importantly will be continued on in any future Public Pay Agreements.
Salary for Point 1 of this new enhanced scale will now be €35,806, and same will rise to €45,841 for Point 8. Under the new proposals, nurses will be able to journey to their new salary scale, with effect from March 1st next, once all qualifying conditions are met. Presently nurses earn just €33,367 on Point 4 of their existing salary scale
The Labour Court, in a seven page document, indicates that the costs of the proposal will now be funded by a reduction in spending on agency staff, through the restructuring of pay to new entrants.
This new enhanced pay scale will involves a 7.3% salary increase (€2,439 p.a.) to this truly deserving of professions.
Independent Deputy Mr Michael Lowry has stated that today is yet another significant day in the progression of the new 40 Bed Modular Unit under construction at Clonmel General Hospital.
Current Progress Report:
The Preliminary and enabling site works are complete.
This week the foundations and base have been completed.
Today the crane and lifting gear have arrived and are in position.
Today the steel modular frames are expected to arrive on site.
Work now set to commence immediately on the erection of the framework.
Note: There are 3 Blocks of Framework, A, B and C to erect.
“Block A will take an estimated one week to erect. Block B and C will then be erected, within the following three weeks approximately, with Cladding of the complete structure then set to commence. The work of erecting and cladding, fully, this modular framework is expected to be completed fully by July of this year”, Deputy Lowry concluded .
Firstly, remember that despite the constant, daily bungling by the current Fine Gael minority Irish Government, the next Irish general election will be held no later than on or before Monday, April 12th 2021.
There should be 159 of the current 160 Dáil seats being contested, with the outgoing Ceann Comhairle being re-elected automatically, unless of course he should opt to take retirement.
Yesterday FG Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection Ms Regina Doherty, attended a “Jobs Expo” in Tipperary Town, Co. Tipperary.
 A Vanishing Rural Tipperary Minister Doherty, despite her party being in government for a second term since 2011, (laughably propped up presently by a party who claims to be in full opposition), insisted that her visit yesterday and her personal number one priority, is to create a thriving Tipperary town. However, having stated same, said she wasn’t going to make any promises that same could be orchestrated any day in the near future. This is what happens when rural towns and villages get passed over and are allowed to rot for decades; excluded, even ostracised financially, in favour of job creation in overcrowded capital cities.
For this very reason, our readers will well remember that Tipperary rid itself of Fine Gael representation on February 26th 2016. It is highly unlikely that new, unknown FG election hopefuls; poised waiting and ready, with their tongues hanging out in the hope of collecting large salaries and pensions, and who personally have achieved nothing to date in their careers, are going to be elected in 2021.
With the supposed aim of getting unemployed people, in the region, back to work; over nine hundred job-seekers from the Tipperary area had been instructed to attend the Excel Arts & Cultural Centre, situated in Mitchell Street, in the town. The attendance by Minister Regina Doherty was seen as a marketing ploy by these local political hopefuls, in their attempt to indication how seriously this same minority Fine Gael government and a Taoiseach, latter seen only as representing Dublin’s interests, was tackling the dire neglect of a rural forgotten Tipperary town.
Minister Doherty was quick to deny that yesterday’s ‘Job’s Expo’; same hurriedly orchestrated in conjunction with Tipperary Enterprise Board, was simply a publicity stunt for the rural unwashed residents of a South / West county town; to promote these afore mentioned new FG election candidates. However, many known hardcore disillusioned Fine Gael voters, were privately admitting that indeed this was truly the case.
A Show for the TV Cameras
However, a number of local resident activists were far from pleased with this orchestrated event. Protesters from the March 4 Tipp (#march4tipp) group, congregated outside the meeting venue yesterday morning, understandably venting their anger at what they called “coercive means used to force unemployed people to attend the event). To this group past memories of a similar Co. Council and FG government event, was seen as yet another reflection of that costly now failed Tipperary-The Place-The Time stunt; with yesterday’s exercise viewed as yet one other “Show for the selfie phone still & the personal video”.
This #March4Tipp action group have already announced their plans for further action, which is scheduled for Friday February 22nd next, same aimed at disrupting traffic on the N24, latter in support of what the group claim are a number of negative developments foisted on the town in recent years.
It is doubtful, however, that would-be Fine Gael election candidates, reminded FG’s Minister Doherty, that more than half of all new jobs in the last 12 months were generated in Dublin city and county, with the number of people working in the capital expanding to a colossal 34,000 people.
With limited employment here in Tipperary; local workers earning €28,000 to €35,000 per annum are obliged to commute the average four hour, 300km daily return journey between Thurles and Dublin. With motoring fuel costs exceeding over €140 per week; same employees are unable to afford the limited rental accommodation on offer in the city, latter costing on average €18,000 per annum, so in order to work, they are left with no alternative.
According to Central Statistics Office (CSO), the rate of employment growth in Dublin is now 66% higher than the figure for the Irish State as a whole.
Dublin’s existing infrastructure, of course is now, also, no longer sufficiently adequate to meet present demographic requirements. Because of rural Ireland’s abandonment and neglect by this government, over the past 8 years in office; through lack of broadband; rural transport; funding & development etc. Brexit should now offer further growth opportunities to Dublin. To this end, be assured that weighty funding for projects such as MetroLink and DART expansion, not to mention Water Supply Projects are, if you pardon the pun, ‘in the Dublin pipeline’, as rural Ireland continues to be ignored and totally rejected.
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