Tá níos mó ná €50 milliún curtha amú cheana féin ar chóras bainistíochta tráchta Iarnród Éireann, córas a theip ar na tástálacha sábhála agus tá níos mó ná dhá bhliain taobh thiar de sceideal. Gan dabht, is teip iomlán é. Anois, tá sé foghlamtha againn go bhfuil na cáiníocóirí ag íoc suas le €100,000 i gcaitheamh le seachtain mar nach bhfuil cinneadh glactha ag an Rialtas ná an NTA ar cheart deireadh a chur leis an choradh seo ar fad. Anois air sin, tá an Rialtas ag caitheamh €200,000 eile le fiosrú cén dóigh a tharla an tubaiste seo ar an chéad dul síos. Beidh, agus tá, an pobal ag fiosrú cén uair a gcuirfear deireadh leis an chur amú ama agus cur amú airgead poiblí seo.

Once again, the public is asking who is taking responsibility for the extraordinary waste of taxpayers' money that has become the hallmark of the Government. The latest revelations surrounding the failed Irish Rail traffic management system are absolutely staggering. More than €50 million has already been blown and written off on a project that has failed safety testing, is more than two years behind schedule and, by any reasonable measure, has been a complete and utter failure. Incredibly, the waste does not end there. We now learn that taxpayers are footing a bill of €100,000 every single week while a decision is made on whether the contract relating to the project should be terminated. In addition, the Government is spending a further €200,000 simply to find out how this debacle happened in the first place. Members of the public are rightly asking when the waste of public money under the Government will stop. While tens of millions of euros have been squandered on this failed project, commuters are being told that there is no funding to deliver new bus, rail or rural transport services this year. That is the cost of the Government's waste. Every euro squandered on failed projects is a euro that cannot be invested in better buses, better rail services and better public transport for people who rely on it every single day.

We know from Iarnród Éireann's briefing papers that it asked for the contract relating to this project to be terminated a year ago. The company warned that it had lost confidence in the contractor's ability to deliver the project and recommended that the contract be terminated. The Department was told last October that there were risks relating to this project and that red flags had been raised. Surely the Minister should have been doing his job and should have intervened to try to find out what was going on. The Government has allowed this to continue. A year after Iarnród Eireann's request that the contract be terminated, over €50 million has been written off and taxpayers are still losing €100,000 every single week, and there is no end in sight.

This is not simply about one failed contract. It is also about a culture of waste that is tolerated and an absence of accountability. Nobody in government ever appears to carry responsibility for the millions in public money that are squandered. I have lost count of the number of times I have stood here and asked what the Government is going to do to end the constant waste of public money. I will again ask the question again on behalf of the people who are frustrated about the continuation of waste. Fifty million euro is not a small amount of money. It has been completely written off. We are now told that €100,000 is being paid every week, with no indication as to when this will end. That is the definition of public waste. Who is going to be held responsible for this latest fiasco? Why are taxpayers still being forced to pay €100,000 every week while this drags on? What immediate steps is the Government going to take to stop further public money being poured into a project that has already become one of the most expensive failures in the history of our public transport system?

How the Deputy characterised Government spending does not tally with the reality of the situation. More than €10 billion has been allocated for public transport projects across the country. The overwhelming majority of those projects are on budget, on time and making a real and meaningful difference. The list of projects delivered on time and on budget by this Government includes the national broadband plan, which the Deputy's party actively opposed. Sinn Féin did not want broadband rolled out to rural communities in Donegal and right across the country. We rolled it out. Sinn Féin opposed it vigorously. That is true. My party, Fine Gael, was the only party which supported it. We delivered it on time and on budget. Other projects include Rosslare Europort, Luas cross city, Woodbrook train station, the new platform at Kent Station in Cork and the Bray transport interchange. There are countless examples of public money being well used and resulting in projects being delivered on time and on budget. We are investing more in public transport, as we should and as we can, as a result of the strength of our economy.

The Deputy is right to highlight a specific issue regarding the traffic management system, however. The national train control centre building was delivered on time and within budget. Let us acknowledge that. It is currently in use by Iarnród Éireann and by approximately 100 members of An Garda Síochána. The new traffic management system to oversee signalling and other railway systems has been delayed beyond its completion date. That is factually correct.

The Minister for Transport met the National Transport Authority, NTA, and the contractor, Indra. The Deputy asked what the Minister is doing. He is engaging intensively. He met the representatives of both entities last year and had further meetings in January of this year regarding the delivery of the traffic management system as soon as possible. A baseline programme has been agreed between Irish Rail, the NTA and the contractor, Indra. Quite rightly, an Oireachtas committee scrutinised this issue yesterday.

I do not accept the Deputy's characterisation that the Government is accepting that the €50 million gone and that the taxpayer must foot the bill, and neither does the Government. The reality is that the Irish Rail accounts have been submitted for consideration to the Department of Transport. They will also be scrutinised and considered by NewERA, which looks at all these issues. As the Deputy knows and as he would expect us to do, there will be a contract in place. We need to work through the issues. We should not jump to any conclusions about when and where the bill will fall due. I expect the Minister, Irish Rail and NewERA to perform their roles in terms of ensuring that the terms of the contract are delivered upon.

I want to assure people that there are contingency plans in place from a safety point of view. From a railway safety perspective, there is not an issue here. The project is taking longer than it should. No decision has yet been made regarding the approval of the annual accounts. They will be reviewed by the Department and NewERA and then published. There is a way to go in terms of working through this issue.

The Government's record of delivering projects on time and on budget in communities right across this country is there for all to see. When things go wrong and projects are delayed, it is quite right that Oireachtas committees, on a cross-party basis, scrutinise the issues involved, as happened yesterday.

This project is not just delayed. Does the Tánaiste not know what is going on here? A sum of €50 million has been written down in the accounts. Irish Rail has formally recommended ending the contract. It has been saying that since last year. It has no confidence that the project can be delivered. This is not just a project that will be delivered in a couple of months' time. The problem is that along with the €50 million that has been written down in terms of the accounts, €100,000 is being paid out on a weekly basis because a decision still has not been taken to end this contract. The NTA is telling us it will take months of engagement between it and the Department to make a recommendation.

I say to the Tánaiste very clearly that this is taxpayers' money. The NTA was very clear that there will be no new bus services, no new rail services and no new rural services this year and, yes, the €50 million could have funded some of that. The NTA representatives were very clear about that yesterday at the committee. I will again ask the Tánaiste some specific questions. Why is the taxpayer on the hook for €100,000 every week for a project that is not going anywhere? Does he accept that Irish Rail has asked the Government to end the contract? When will the Government ensure that this type of wasting of public money will no longer happen? Crucially, as everybody asks me, who will be held accountable for this? It is not good enough for the Tánaiste to come in, shrug his shoulders and just brush off €50 million of taxpayers' money being wasted, along with another €100,000 every single week.

Hear, hear.

Of course, it is not and, of course, that is not what I am doing but it will make a great clip on the Deputy's Instagram. It is not the truth. I hope he plays the full-----

This is a serious issue.

It is a very serious issue.

Deputies, please allow the Tánaiste to answer.

When I am asked about a serious issue, it is nice to be allowed to respond without a cacophony trying to shout me down, as happens every time in this House. I have made a very serious point that Deputy Doherty should not come into this House and make the point that €50 million is lost to the taxpayer when the State is doing its job in making sure that terms and conditions of contracts are scrutinised, that NewERA, a body we set up to make sure we derive value in the delivery of projects, is doing its jobs and that Oireachtas committees are doing their job as well. We should allow that process to work its way through. That is all I am saying.

I am also making the point that the Deputy's categorisation of Government spending on public projects is not borne out by the facts. He asked about €50 million. Would he get as exercised if it were £140 million? In the Department his party runs in Northern Ireland, £140 million was spent on road projects that have not even started.

How boring this is.

That Department is led by a Sinn Féin Minister and it has wasted £140 million. Thank God the SDLP highlighted that terrible waste of money.

Are you getting upset? There was the £300,000 as well.

You are pathetic. Do you practise that in front of the mirror every night?

I do not need to, Pearse.

Do you stand there saying, "I wonder how this looks"? Honest to God, do you consider even for a minute what the public thinks of it?

Deputy Doherty, please resume your seat.

Sinn Féin wasters.

Tánaiste, please stop provoking him. I have called Deputy Cian O'Callaghan.

You have wasted public money and do not care what taxpayers feel about it. You can go on with your gimmicks all you want.

Deputy Doherty, you are out of order.

Do not point your finger at me, Tánaiste.

You are out of order, Deputy.

TikTok props.

You are a serial waster, Tánaiste.

I have called Deputy O'Callaghan.