Irish Examiner View: Spending leaves quite a sour taste
Dublin Dental University Hospital awarded a contract to Jennings Design Studio for the delivery of roughly five projects at the institution’s South Dublin campus from August 2023 — but it did so without a competitive tender.
There’s been stiff competition in recent months when it comes to the most spendthrift publicly-funded organisation in Ireland — a contest with strong entries from all over the country.
Among those entries are the costly Fireman’s Rest renovation by Cork City Council and the notorious bike shed built by the OPW in Leinster House, not to mention the dysfunctional IT system for the Arts Council which cost millions but was never delivered.
These cases are now being challenged for primacy by an institution with a track record which is frankly staggering.
As reported here, the Dublin Dental University Hospital awarded a contract to Jennings Design Studio for the delivery of roughly five projects at the institution’s South Dublin campus from August 2023 — but it did so without a competitive tender.
Although at least €780,000 has been paid to the firm to date, only one of those projects — an overhaul of surgical suites at the hospital — has been completed so far.
This is not the first time the dental hospital has been in the headlines for its spending habits.
Last December, the reported that it had spent €161,202 in a four-year period up to November 2024 purchasing food from six local coffee shops and eateries for employees attending meetings.
Services availed of included artisan teas and coffees, fruit, pastries, milk, and hot and cold food, with employees in attendance routinely ordering personalised sandwiches in advance.
Whatever about pastries being bought for a dental school, that level of spending should have been subject to a public tender under EU spending rules.
EU rules also apply in the case of the architectural contract, which should have been the subject of a public tendering process.
Examples of blithe disregard for legal processes like this are likely to enrage readers.
Will they also lead to calls for stricter oversight of Government spending?
We can see what happens when such oversight is weaponised by a partisan administration, as is happening currently in America.
Irrespective of ideologies or impulses of revenge, however, performances such as that of the Dublin Dental University Hospital need to be addressed.
Europe has had better fortnights.
If it isn’t the humiliation of being sidelined by US negotiators seeking to use ‘peace talks’ with Russia over Ukraine to maximise commercial opportunities, it’s US vice-president JD Vance lecturing European leaders about democracy on behalf of his boss — who tried to overthrow a democratic election result five years ago.
It would be no harm to remind ourselves of the benefits we have enjoyed because of Europe, and the successes achieved for all through European co-operation.
One good example of that co-operation is found near Geneva: The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), the intergovernmental organisation which operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world on the border of France and Switzerland.
Readers may be familiar with CERN through its Large Hadron Collider, the underground ring in which protons are accelerated and collided into one another.
The good news this week is that Ireland’s application to join CERN has been accepted in principle, which means we should be able to become associate members in 2026.
The benefits of membership were outlined by Science Minister James Lawless.
“While CERN is world-renowned for its fundamental research in particle physics, there are cutting-edge activities across many fields, including engineering, computing, photonics, advanced materials, and medical technology,” he said.
“It is exciting to think of the Irish students, researchers, and entrepreneurs who will have opportunities to contribute to this work.”
This is true: Membership means Ireland’s researchers will be able to participate in CERN’s scientific programmes and be eligible for staff positions and fellowships at CERN, while Irish businesses will be able to compete for contracts in CERN procurement programmes.
Membership is also an endorsement of Ireland’s reputation for world-class research and development, a timely reminder to companies at the leading edge of innovation of what this country offers.
CERN itself shows the benefits of European countries working together.
That is a lesson to remember at a time when forces hostile to Europe seem keen to undermine such co-operation.
Medical journal has published a paper with some bracing news for a dull February morning.
The long-running improvement in life expectancy across Europe is slowing down.
Life expectancy is still growing, but not at the same speed as before.
Specifically, the average annual growth in life expectancy across Europe has fallen from 0.23 years between 1990 and 2011 to 0.15 years between 2011 and 2019.
Twenty countries were part of the study which produced this result, and all are experiencing this slowdown with one exception: Norway.
England, incidentally, showed the biggest decline in life expectancy improvement of all 20 countries.
The details of the study are fascinating — during covid, for instance, only six of the countries studied did not experience a decline in life expectancy, and Ireland was one of them.
Researchers say the countries which “best maintained” improvements in life expectancy had fewer heart disease and cancer deaths, and they have added that the study underlines the need for governments to introduce policies addressing obesity and increasing physical activity among their citizens.
A worthy proposal, but it is difficult to see individuals exercising in order to comply with legislation.
