CIÉ not accountable for its activities to Ministers or Opposition, says FG

MINISTER for Transport Noel Dempsey is “being treated by CIÉ as a ribbon cutter” but “there is no substantial accountability to you Minister or to us as Opposition members”, Fine Gael transport spokesman Fergus O’Dowd said.

Mr O’Dowd, who called for CIÉ and the National Roads Authority (NRA) to come within the remit of the Freedom of Information Act, told Mr Dempsey that “the wool is being pulled over your eyes”.

Speaking during a Private Members’ motion on transport, he said the Minister would not have known about the Baker Tilly report into waste and non-compliance with procurement procedures at Iarnrod Éireann were it not a for a newspaper article.

But Mr Dempsey rejected the claims and said “Fine Gael seems to suggest that the Minister for Transport and the department should be answerable for all and every aspect of the activities of the NRA and CIÉ”.

He said “the simplistic thinking evident in the Fine Gael motion is based on a knee-jerk reaction to recent events rather than a well thought analysis of the issues”.

Mr Dempsey insisted that “both agencies will continue to be held to account by the Oireachtas and by me for their implementation of the roads and public transport investment programmes and for the discharge of their functions more generally. This needs to be done however on a balanced and strategic basis that allows the agencies get on with the job for which they have been established without hampering their capacity to do so. They cannot be expected to refer every issue back to the department or Minister.”

He said that “to do so would be bad public management and would in practice relieve the board and management of fulfilling their mandate in line with legislation and Government policy and the requirements of good governance practice. It is not the way forward for governance”.

Mr O’Dowd said it was “critical that we know what is going on” to hold CIÉ accountable.