Very few people in the country will forget the description, in May 2002, of the campus Ireland project by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform as being "Ceaucescu-like", but recent revelations suggest that this analogy might not be as far-fetched as people imagined. After all, the infamous Romanian tyrant left behind him a battery of extravagant, egotistical, sub-standard, unfinished monuments and buildings, the price for which his people will continue to pay for many years to come. The debacle of the National Aquatic Centre truly is an apt metaphor for the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government — massive costs to the public, a so-called state-of-the-art attraction that is all splash, with fake waves, the roof blown off and leaking like a sieve.
I put it to the Taoiseach that, as the sole promoter and shareholder of this project, he is personally responsible for the huge failures that have been exposed. Does the Taoiseach stand over his statement at the opening of the centre on 10 March 2003 that "a visionary concept has been brought to magnificent fruition"? Will the Taoiseach confirm that the facility is leaking water at the rate of 5 million litres per month and that a consultant's report has found that the original roof structure was substandard, suggesting that either corners were cut or plans were washed away at the construction stage? Were these facts known to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, who claimed two weeks ago that the €62 million capital expenditure on the project "represents money very well spent" or can we take it that this farce is the benchmark, or rather the tide mark, of Government spending and standards?
