Oops we wasted taxpayers money again !!!

gandalf

C&AG criticises price paid for Thornton Hall prison site

The State's spending watchdog has criticised the price the Government paid for the site of a planned new prison complex on the outskirts of Dublin.

In his latest annual report, the Comptroller and Auditor General says the €29.9m paid for the Thornton Hall site is likely to have been twice the market price for land in that area.

http://www.unison.ie/breakingnews/index.php3?ca=9&si=99042

Well our every generous government are still giving money away. I wonder how many beds in a hospital €14.75 Million would get or how many Gardai does that equate to.

Heres a receipe a pinch of PPARS, a touch of e-voting, some road over runs, a leaky tunnel, a overpriced LUAS, a vapourware stadium, a non existant unified ticketing system and what do we have maybe a couple of new world class hospitals. One thing is guaranteed there is no responsibility or accountability.

Of course some say that the land for the prison should have been cheaper. 8 times cheaper http://www.villagemagazine.ie/article.asp?sid=1&sud=40&aid=3080

Then again thats Frank Connolly and Herr Flick says he is a bad man which he may be but he hasn't wasted a pile of my tax money !!!!

aslantheslayer

How do they keep getting away with it?

Arent they accountable to anyone?

Even Ryanair think they could build T2 (Dublin Airport terminal 2) For 600 million less!

Akrasia

aslantheslayer wrote:

How do they keep getting away with it?

Arent they accountable to anyone?

Even Ryanair think they could build T2 (Dublin Airport terminal 2) For 600 million less!

well, one way they get away with it is by accusing their opponents (frank connoly) of being IRA/FARC/Terrorist agents openly in the dail and without supplying any supporting evidence, and by intimidating american philanthropists into withdrawing funding for Centres of public enquiry who might one day discover the truth about this extremely suspicious transaction.

McDowell. You're time is running very short.

constitutionus

not to mention the fact its a good time to release this stuff. anyone know about celtice helicopters charlie haughey. oh im sorry ciaran haugheys company defaulting on 0.7 million to the tax man? no? thats what happens when you release the info when the taoiseachs caught by the bollocks.

still shows why macdowell was so determined to shut down the CPI. they were investigating this too and probably couldve given us the finding in time to do something about it instead of the fait accomplai we hav now

frank must be laughing his ass off over whats happening the last week

gandalf

Well this just shows the utter arrogance and contempt this government has for the ordinary taxpayer. If this happened in a company and it was found out that they paid twice the price expected for property/goods/services given the large sums involved the person who was responsible for the transaction would be fired. If it turns out they were involved where the different was a multiple of eight they would be fired and investigated.

In Ireland they become the leader of their party and the 2nd highest office in the elected government. This for a man that abused Dail privilage by accusing a man of offenses without any proof being presented or allowing the accused a day in court to clear his name, a man whose department through incompetitence caused one of the worst legal difficulties in years that nearly let child rapists free, and now a man as head of the Department of Justce has cost the taxpayers a large sum of money by overpaying for land.

Well I suppose as long as he hasn't any "friends" in the closet that we know of.

sovtek

gandalf wrote:

Well this just shows the utter arrogance and contempt this government has for the ordinary taxpayer. If this happened in a company and it was found out that they paid twice the price expected for property/goods/services given the large sums involved the person who was responsible for the transaction would be fired. If it turns out they were involved where the different was a multiple of eight they would be fired and investigated.

Iàm sorry but any CEO of a company can run it into the ground and make half a bill as long as he hires all his mates as fellow members of the board. Companies are not champions of efficiency as the fable goes. Only efficient at making whoever runs it a lot of cash. Replace capitalism with something nicer...like socialism!
Google Jack Welsh to see what it takes to be a CEO!

sceptre

constitutionus wrote:

not to mention the fact its a good time to release this stuff. anyone know about celtice helicopters charlie haughey. oh im sorry ciaran haugheys company defaulting on 0.7 million to the tax man? no? thats what happens when you release the info when the taoiseachs caught by the bollocks.

It was on the news yesterday. Along with 30 other major defaulters but Celtic Helicopters was the one named specifically. Perhaps I just listen carefully.

Keedowah

I thought that the LUAS was a hit - i know it cost too much to build - but i thought that there was a surplus already compared to its projected takeings?

Dont get me wrong - its a joke that the two lines aren't connected, that we dont have any train lines going to the airport etc etc.

Is it true that the owner of city west and some other businesspeople out that way offered to build an extension that the government is planning - and the government said no?

Other such items the government messed up are:

Port Tunnel,
Spending millions on a website that doesn't exist!
That payroll system wtf?

Should we have a top twn list? A demand a vote .

Akrasia

Akrasia wrote:

well, one way they get away with it is by accusing their opponents (frank connoly) of being IRA/FARC/Terrorist agents openly in the dail and without supplying any supporting evidence, and by intimidating american philanthropists into withdrawing funding for Centres of public enquiry who might one day discover the truth about this extremely suspicious transaction.

McDowell. You're time is running very short.

How does that affect this? Surely its the voters who are ultimately responsible?They'll turf this lot out if they are unhappy.
I for one would prefer cross party democratic bodies looking into these things as they have done rather than unelected "dodgy" bodies.If you want a thread again on that subject-go start one.

Frederico

What about all those new signs in Dublin they screwed up?

I stopped caring about Irish politics many years ago, its far too frustrating. I am convinced us Irish people must love complaining because there could be no other possible reason why we consistantly vote for these incompetant fools (with the gift of the gab) over and over.

tba

Well once the goverment enters into the equation in land purchase, the value of the land is exceeded as shown, it happens due to the goverments ability to rezone the land to their needs, whereas anybody else buying it could only grow crops.

Noelie

Perhaps it was just bertie paying back the interest on his "loan"

constitutionus

sceptre wrote:

It was on the news yesterday. Along with 30 other major defaulters but Celtic Helicopters was the one named specifically. Perhaps I just listen carefully.

yes, but who in the media is talking about it? or thornton hall, or the dublin bus situations suddenly being sorted now?

all im hearing on the telly and radio now is bertie. nice time to get the bad news out, im only amazed they havent released the lees cross report yet. if anything would over shadow that its bertie getting the chop over payments.

speaking of which anyone know if the manchester money was in sterling? if so 8k equals 10k plus in euros, bringing the money berties got in total to 60 thousand. a hell of alot more than the "paltry 22k" bertie was going on about. i really would wish the taoiseach would decide what fecking currency he's talking in instead of trying to minimise it at every turn

gandalf

Naw just heard on Newstalk that they may have to have another investigation into Lees Cross because the one that ran for the last year and a half overstepped its remit.

Ah well lets piss more money down the drain we can afford it :rolleyes:

constitutionus

funny how often that happens, i seem to remember mary winding the organ retention tribunal up cause they spent 20 million and produced nothing. not surprising when the terms meant the hospitals could tell them to take a flying jump.

gandalf

Hmmm another story thats come out, you may be onto something with the best time to release bad stories.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0928/collinsm.html

One of two charges relating to tax offences against the Limerick West TD Michael Collins has been dropped, the district court in Newcastlewest heard today

Villain

The government has shown many times that it has no regard for our money. Its almost like they spend it just so can use the facts to counter the arguments of people who show how bad certain areas are.

e.g. When the opposition outline the problems in the Health System Bertie or Mary just start throwing figures out, in other words saying:
"Ah yea we know the Health service is sh*t lads but we have spend 1.2 billion on it this year, this compares to x ammount when you were in government and next year we'r going to spend even more, it will still be sh*t but we'r spending spending spending"

This apply's to manner other areas, it almost like once they spend the budget their happy, it doesn't really matter what they get back in return for the money, our money remember.

They allow huge hikes in ESB and Gas bills while taking an ever increasing ammount of tax on Oil, Petrol and Gas. Then they go and pay twice as much money for the land for this prison, why because they don't care about our money.

They are not the only ones that dont care though,theres plenty of FG,FF labour and independent councillors who think they have the right to use public money to travel the world and the seven seas to irrelevant conferences.

While I'm on the subject,my own local co co paid enormous money for a site and building to create a plc college in a small village.
Why didnt they pay a quarter of that to locate it in a different part of the county for much much less?
My co co has an FG/labour majority by the way.

My point being,I've been voting in every election since 1989 and I've seen them all waste money right left and centre,Ive seen them promise the earth too and deliver little.
Regardless of who is in office,you are going to see the same,its there in black and white.
This current lots problem is that they've been here for so long, so statistically they've got the longest list of failures (though and I'm not going to put their case for them,they consequently also have the longest list of sucesses,its just that they should really have more,they've been at it long enough).

I think Bill Clinton put it well yesterday at the UK labour party conference when he listed off a litany of sucessfull Economic statistics for the UK...yet opinion polls show the Tories are on the up.
People get tired of governmentsThe only problem is, you replace them and you'll get tired of the next lot because based on experience, you get just as many messes.
Changing them is good though every now and again.
Maybe I'm getting cynical.

LostinBlanch

Ah sure McDowell said we don't need that money anyway, if his stamp duty statements are to be believed.

So that makes it ok then :rolleyes:

bonkey

Tristrame wrote:

travel the world and the seven seas

Everybody's looking for something...

Just on the point, does anyone have a record/total of the money which has gone on virtual projects to date?

LostinBlanch

LostinBlanch wrote:

Ah sure McDowell said we don't need that money anyway, if his stamp duty statements are to be believed.

How exactly do you come to that conclusion? If you are going to make statements,couldnt you just explain how you come to a conclusion.
Any party putting foward a tax break idea must have it costed..At least they must before I'd consider voting for it anyway.

Bunnyhopper

Check out the general mickey-taking on government waste at

http://skangerland.blogspot.com

I reckon the plan to pave the Liffey is a nice one, and the electronic voting machines is a bit of a laugh too. And McDowell is looking lovely in those pictures in the one about Garda hats.

Victor

aslantheslayer wrote:

Even Ryanair think they could build T2 (Dublin Airport terminal 2) For 600 million less!

Thats interesting, I think the DAA were suggesting a figure of Eur300-440m