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THE DÁIL CLERK has today defended the business case for purchasing the controversial and costly Oireachtas printer.
He said the purchase made “financial sense” because the two old printers, which were purchased in 2004, were costing €65,000 a year in repair, maintenance and spare parts.
The clerk, Peter Finnegan, told committee members that he stands over his statement that the business case is still sound.
Yesterday, TheJournal.ie revealed that the overall cost to the State for the printing press ordered by the Oireachtas is over €2 million.
The total cost runs to €2,020,143, over €500,000 more than was anticipated.
The business case for buying the new printer put forward in 2017 was that it would cost €1.5 million.
Total costs to be funded by the Houses of the Oireachtas for the printer is €1,798,818 (inclusive of VAT). However, taking in costs to the OPW, the costs escalated.
However, the Komori printing press will continue to accrue maintenance costs, the clerk said today.
For the first two years, there are no maintenance fees. In year three, maintenance fees cost €16,000, in year four, maintenance fees will cost €21,000 and in year five, the fees will cost €25,000.
The printer has an expected life-span of 12 to 15 years. The leasing option was not considered, the committee was told today.
The initial report from Dáil clerk Peter Finnegan concluded that the requirements of the building and other regulations in relation to “head height” where the room was meant to be stored, were neither “understood nor examined at the critical early stages of the project”.
It resulted in structural works being carried out to ensure the printer fitted in the room. The Dáil printer is yet to be operational.
The clerk confirmed today that the team evaluating the tender for the Oireachtas printer “actually missed the statement on the bottom of the page which said the head height was limited”.
Appearing before the Dáil Public Accounts Committee this afternoon, Finnegan said:
We are not an organisation that has the luxury of installing equipment in a green field site. We are not Google down in the docks. We are an organisation that functions from Dublin 2 in very cramped conditions and invariably costs arise as a result of that.
He said the Leinster House complex faces challenges in relation to accommodation.
When major equipment installation is required, it invariably involves structural works, he said.
Finnegan pointed out that when two printers were bought in 2004, structural works were required and cost twice as much as the construction works for the current printer.
He said there are “very cramped conditions and invariably costs arise front that”.
Sinn Féin’s David Cullinane questioned the clerk about why the issue of costs was not raised with the committee back in July when the accounts for the Houses of the Oireachtas were being discussed.
“I gave the best answers I could at the time,” the clerk told the committee. He said he had a limited amount of information in relation to the cost overruns that day.
Cullinane said it “would have been better” if the clerk had alerted the committee about the issues that had arisen with the printer.
The clerk said he did not intentionally withhold any information from the committee, for which Cullinane said he was implying that Finnegan consciously did so.
Finnegan said he tried to answer all the questions at the July meeting to “the best of his ability”.
He said he understood the public anger out there about the project, stating “it is a lot of money”. He added that no one can say that the project was well managed.
Speaking about the mistakes made, Finnegan said “honest human errors” were made. He said the absence of having an architectural input on the evaluation team was probably the main issue.
In his view, had there been architectural input at that stage, the issue of head height would have been identified “right at the start” and “would have impacted on the business case”.
“We would have a truer cost for these works which would have been incorporated in the business case,” he said.
Other mistakes included that drawings of the room and the head height which were emailed on to the team “didn’t trigger or raise any alarm bells”.
“There was a series of mistakes,” he said.
Fianna Fáil’s Shane Cassells asked the clerk if discussions with the Komori company had taken place in relation to liability.
Finnegan told the committee that he met with the company agent and was told that as Komori had flagged the head height issues in the tender, as well as emailing drawings with mentions of the head height concerns it would be the view of the firm that “if the customer is happy, Komori will supply the printer, and the legal obligation is on the customer”.
Having consulted with legal experts, the clerk said due to the warnings issued by Komori, there is no breach of contract in this case.
“That unfortunately is the reality,” he said.
Given the circumstances, other avenues are being investigated by the clerk, including getting an “ex-gratia payment or gesture to the Houses of the Oireachtas in relation this machine”.
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It’s very sad and there is not enough being done to prevent it so so sad
@Dan Henry: I hear people calling for the usual “more resources” which used to be called more funding or more money. This will not fix the problem. Lots is being spent on mental health services with no improvement. The big issues with our worsening mental health crisis are the malaise of western mindset – materialism, isolation with competition and attempted self medication with drugs especially alcohol which is the great facilitator of suicide. Until we change our culture of thinking we will continue to have great amounts of mental health disease.
@Biróg: Also what is a highly destructive for a persons mental health is being paid not to work. The person has no function in the community, has low self esteem and the boredom invariable leads to recreational damaging alcohol and drug use.
Historically Irish people were significantly materialially more poor but the access to social welfare, drugs was not there. Suicide was a rare event during these times. There were also religious protective factors (which was had the potential for damage some would argue)
@Birog
I agree that more resources is not necessarily the solution, but I’m not sure about the ‘western mindset’ concept. With a handful of exceptions (eg. Japan) very few fully developed first world countries make it into the top 25 countries ranked by suicide rate. High poverty rates seem to be the common factor for many countries on the list, and the majority are ‘third world’ countries. Neither the US or any country in western Europe makes it onto the list:
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-most-suicides-in-the-world.html
Totally agree Birog!
austerity is killing our country and our people suicide has ramped up since ff bailed out the banks.ff fg don’t care get rid of them or nothing will change.
@Avina Laff…. the true rate of suicides in this country is 3 to 4 times higher than publicised. I worked for a short time in conjunction with the coroners office and it was disgusting. The coroner will only rule it as a suicide it there’s a note left. Even if it’s an obvious suicide it will be ruled as death by misadventure. And then there are families who none want it ruled as suicide too, understandably. One afternoon I sat there as 5 obvious suicides came through the court and all were ruled Death by misadventure. If the true number was ever publicised it would be up in the thousands a year not 500ish as it is now
Agree with your point of view to a large extent. One thing that must also be highlighted is the suicide amongst indignous populations caused by alienation from societal norms be they amongst the travelling community here, the Maori in New Zealand or Native American or Native Canadian in North America.
@Bobby. They had to do the bail out, cause the alternative would have been a lot worse. There would have been a run on the banks, people’s savings would have been gone, corporations would all leave. Now I know it’s bad & so hard on a lot of folks, but as I said the alternative would be 10 times worse that it is now. This is the way the world works.
This country puts way too much pressure on being perfect in every stage of life from exams relationships careers etc. How are people with mental health problems supposed to succeed with no proper public mental health services. The housing crisis is putting people in miserable mindsets unable to cope especially the stigma of needing social housing because the government of last 30 years deny the physical & mentality their basic rights especially their housing&health needs leading to suicide as they can’t fit in to a very demanding society of what is perfect or not.
What good is throwing money at mental health service when people don’t earn enough to live, can’t afford to put a roof over their heads and see no way out of endless grinding poverty. Sort those issues out and the mental health service will be used by those who really need it, ie, those who are mentally ill, not people who are depressed and suicidal because of their living conditions. Government and businesses who promote zero hour contracts have a lot to answer for. We as a nation could start by boycotting them.
Agreed Mary. Hit them in the pocket.. its the only way to change a corrupt system that values profit over people.
Workplaces need to be held accountable too. Exploitation, zero hour contracts, lying, belitting, stealing, under paying and getting away with murder cos they can. People are desperate for money and forced to accept “agency” or temp contracts.No job security at all. Astonishing the amount of billion plus profit companies in Ireland doing this.
Also to the Unions they should be more pro active to help those in the retail and customer service roles. Just cos it is not lucrative or not a good PR stunt doesn’t mean they should be ignored.
Poverty is bad for your health (physical and mental) this should be common knowledge by now, and we should have properly joined up economic and health policies which address it
@Colin Foley: All places, including educational establishments amongst students AND teachers etc, you’d be surprised what’s going on and keep at it because health & safety policy is not implemented with an iron fist. Having said that, it takes a person affected with energy to fight it to rectify. Often though the victim is not strong or doesn’t know how to deal with it. I don’t think bullying should be treated any way different from physical assault, its a mental assault. So if we’re going to talk in equal measures lets look at it holistically. On that note, espeically as the seed to gaining employment, the amount of bitter bile from competitive eejits who want or think theres only one job existing, in education you’re going to get a lot of that. Society, of society has an awful lot to answer for today. Allowing thousands of workers in to take jobs that graduates here need doesn’t help matters either. We won’t even start at rural Ireland. They feel, whats the point? Bruton wants competition, at what cost? Greedy pigs.
451 people died from suicide in Ireland in 2015 and 165 people died on our roads in 2015. Is it just better marketing or is there more money spent on road safety than suicide awareness?
Government policy government sponsored bank fraud, government sponsored eviction courts, government sponsored employment policies that sees some low pay workers seen as no more than drones, not human beings, government sponsored housing and rent policy, government sponsored media that scandalises SW recipients as ner’do wells and spongers, government sponsored health policy where your bank balance dictates what services are available.
Government sponsored neo-liberal policies that see public services that the disadvantaged in society depend on starved of funds in favour of Corporate Welfare.
Society no longer exists, economy rules.
No offence but there are many happy to be taking advantage of the government sponsored sw, state sponsered single mothers allowance and housing benefit that are just working the system.
@Jimmy Berg: They don’t cost the 13 Billion Apple costs in Corporate Welfare, do they?
There is over 20,000,000,000 of taxpayers money being spent on “social protection” in this country assuming that most people earning good saleries don’t benefit (besides children’s allowence) that’s a lot of dosh going to a relatively small group of people.
138 families face the eviction courts around the country today.
138 with mental health I don’t think so a lot jumped on the I’m not f!#king paying band wagon the banks screw me! As one great man said it’s not how many times you get knocked down it’s how many times you get back up ( Rocky balboa)
@Adrian: Most are victims of the bank collapse, and austerity measures to pay the bank’s debts. None of our MSM will publish the numbers hauled before these secret eviction courts.
These people are down, and the weight of the law will be employed to keep them down. There’s money to be made.
Some extremely good comments here to an article I think is very necessary. One point not mentioned enough is the sheer “loneliness” factor that may cause long term isolation from a society seemingly more remote and into “social media” which in some ways is an oxymoron. “Social” traditionally meant personable, mixing well with people of all ages and classes not tapping on a screen to make contact with other humans. There is too much self-absorption nowadays with tablets and smart-phones substituting for human contact.
The rate of suicide amongst young men is particularly concerning as is copy-cat suicides and murder-suicide which is now more prevalent in Ireland.
We need to talk more one on one with our fellow humans.
Back in 2006/7 suicide rates in Cavan were higher than amongst US military personnel in Iraq then (18.9/100K vs 18.1/100K). It’s down to 11.3/100K in Cavan since then (2015 figs) but overall the rate has actually increased asides from in Leinster according to here: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/data-on-suicides-nationwide-reveals-sharp-differences-1.2667609
But how can we be sure? How many deaths are never counted as such that are?
There is a load of horse sh** being spoken on here about million dollar companies being at fault , and boycotted. Is any one going to speak about the rich people commiting suicide or the people in so called poverty who lead a wonderful life. Suicide affects all walks of life and blaming billion dollar companies is pointless.
@Kieran Jones: People in poverty leading wonderful lifes eh! and you accuse others of sprouting horseshit. Oh the irony. Also no one ever said suicide doesnt affect rich people either!
@colin. If your going to quote me do it properly. I said so called poverty. And no one on here mentioned the rich people except me.
Neuroscientist Kimberly Noble highlights one such invisible, yet very real, element of poverty: its effect on brain development in children. Also having a religious organisation as the largest provider of health services and education etc can’t really be doing wonders for us.
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