PrinterGate fiasco points to Government of misfits
THE PrinterGate controversy (total bill €1.8m and rising by the hour) is the latest example of a colossal Government waste of public money on vanity projects. To add insult to injury, the printer is still not functioning due to multiple problems with logistics and training.
My first question is why should the Oireachtas require such a massively expensive colour printer when all the members have full use of personal computers to conduct their business?
Secondly, what documents do they want to print in colour? All I can think of is their hundreds of thousands of personalised election posters for the general election.
This costly fiasco should be independently investigated and a comprehensive report compiled and printed for the public.
The only problem with that, of course, is that Leinster House doesn’t have a functioning printer with which to print it!
Surely we can produce better politicians than this motley crew of highly paid nincompoops?
John O’Sullivan, Carrigaline, Co. Cork. …IF THE new Government printer and associated works cost €1.8m, is there any possibility I could tender for the supply of ink and paper?
Dave Meehan, by email.
EVERY time a major infrastructure project hits the headlines, Fine Gael wheels out one of its many clowns with an expert opinion as to why it should not be built.
Stop! No more! Get these clowns off the media, and let these badly needed projects go ahead.
In the case of the Cork flood barrier a down-river barrier, at whatever cost, is the only solution. However, who is sent out by Government to knock the plans as ‘unworkable’ only Kevin Boxer Moran? In the name of
God, give us a break!
An expert professor in engineering in UCC totally agrees with a down-river flood barrier, as do Dutch experts, whose country is under sea level in parts and, to my knowledge, has never suffered major flooding because they have the skill and the knowhow to deal with such problems. These are the people we should be taking advice from not parishpump politicians.
Val Davis, Crosshaven, Co. Cork.
WITH another Christmas season creeping closer, its advent brings needless pressures on many people.
While listening to the radio during the week, I was saddened to hear of the plight of some unfortunate folk who are forced to borrow money to cope with December demands.
Many are forced to resort to taking out loans from unscrupulous lenders who charge over-the-top interest rates. The majority of those lenders have little sympathy for those that they deal with and deserve as much respect as rats.
In contrast, credit unions up and down the country treat their customers much kinder, with interest charges much more manageable. Because of this, more people should be encouraged to join their local credit unions and benefit from the facilities provided.
So, people who are not credit union members should make New Year resolutions to join up and also try to put a little aside each week, so as to build up for the needs of months ahead.
Liz Lawless, Navan, Co. Meath.
THE Irish (and indeed, the European) media seem to be paying scant regard to the upheaval that is taking place in Iraq these days.
The daily demonstrations across
Iraq are slowly edging towards a civil war in that country – especially with the daily shooting at some Iraqi demonstrators.
The causes and issues involved in these mass protests all across Iraq are quite similar to what transpired in Syria in 2011 – poverty and corruption, a vastly increasing birth rate, very high unemployment, a disgruntled youth, and so on.
The population of Iraq is reckoned to be around 40million – which is double that of Syria at the start of that civil war.
Have any EU politicians and media pundits considered how the massive movement of many more potential migrants might affect the life of this continent should vulnerable people head for western Europe, if the critical situation in Iraq reaches a tipping point?
European leaders must consider if they are willing and able to allow ‘open borders’ – and they should also consider possible future anarchy in their own countries should the situation in Iraq suddenly explode.
Tom Baldwin, Midleton, Co. Cork.