When will gross incompetence and the flagrant waste of public money qualify as a sacking offence? In recent years, a succession of planning projects and tax-efficient developments have drawn critical comments from the Comptroller and Auditor General, the man appointed to oversee Government spending.
But nothing appears to happen. The State apparatus, cocooned from the real world, fails to learn from its mistakes.
Major infrastructure projects have attracted particular attention because of poor planning and escalating costs. The Luas project is notorious in that regard. A combination of political interference and bad decision-making has damaged its long-term effectiveness. Five years ago, the then chairman of CIE, Mr Brian Joyce, expressed concern that Luas would absorb 50 per cent of the available national public transport resources in return for carrying less than 10 per cent of peak-time traffic in Dublin.
But the then minister for transport, Ms O'Rourke, pressed ahead. Not only that, she decided that Luas should go underground in the city centre at huge extra cost. The result is a disjointed southern spur that will not link directly with the Tallaght/Northern line. Cross-town traffic will have to await the building of a metro. It might have been cheaper, and better, to buy buses.
Last week's evidence before the Oireachtas Committee on Transport provided an insight into bad Luas planning. There was the needless acquisition and demolition of a ramp at Connolly Station at an estimated cost of €40 million. There was the purchase of hugely expensive Luas carriages, years before they were required. And there was the mind-boggling design for Luas track, at the Red Cow Roundabout on the M50, that will require trams to stop at three separate sets of traffic lights. As for the extra inconvenience for those motorists who already face 40-minute delays at one of the busiest interchanges in the State: think Merrion Gates. And treble it. The galling thing is that "extreme concern" was expressed about these road/Luas traffic designs almost five years ago and no remedial action was taken.
The Railway Procurement Agency also told the Oireachtas committee about the proposed Dublin metro. It appears that just over one-third of the estimated cost of €4.8 billion will go towards construction. The remainder, about €3 billion, has been earmarked for the cost of finance, fees, insurance, risk provision and VAT. The cost escalation has been put at €811 million. These are huge figures at a time when the cost of money is historically low and construction inflation is falling. It is no wonder the committee was advised by a transport consultant that the metro could be built at a fraction of the cost, based on Madrid metro prices.
The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, has travelled to Madrid to talk to politicians and officials about costs there. He has viewed the site at the Red Cow roundabout. But will anything change?
Commuters and taxpayers are not advised to hold their breath.