Murphy inextricably linked to NIW fiasco – Allister
03 January 2011
Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister:-
“The ongoing contortions by Conor Murphy to distance himself from the fiasco at NI Water are farcical. As a NDPB (non-departmental public body) – made such by his decision in September 2009 to end its status as a GOCO - to which he directly appoints directors and approves every other senior appointment, including that of the Chief Executive, with which his officials held 82 formal meetings in the last financial year (as documented in the IRT report from Deloittes into the procurement issue), in which his Department is the exclusive 100% shareholder and whose Accounting Officer is the Permanent Secretary of DRD, it is ludicrous for Murphy to pretend he is not accountable for NIW. He is inextricably linked with its every move and failure. In any accountable democracy he would be gone from office.
“But under the absurd system of mandatory coalition, where all Stormont parties are in the government club, with no Opposition even permitted, he can, and will, thumb his nose at the public outrage and loss of confidence in his stewardship. In any accountable democracy a minister resigns when he loses the public’s confidence, but not here. Instead he buck passes and indulges in a meaningless review whose terms of reference he controls so as to guarantee it doesn’t get close to his lamentable failures. This is what he did over the Priestly controversy by carefully restricting its terms to “the conduct of Mr Priestly and any other civil servant”, making sure no scrutiny fell on his own role. (http://www.jimallister.org/default.asp?blogID=2037)
“Then, the issue is long-fingered for months. The Sir Jon Shortridge inquiry into NIW was announced in August 2010 and though its findings have been with Bruce Robinson since 8th November, it is being sat upon. Why? With no one in Stormont outside of the government loop, no one even asks!
“On the recent shambolic water crisis we’ve seen the protective shield put in place, so much so that this morning on Nolan Murphy was able to boast that at last week’s Executive meeting he faced NO criticism from his ministerial colleagues and such was their confidence in him that they invited him to draw up the terms of reference for the resulting inquiry. What a farce! If inside the cabinet room DUP, UUP and SDLP ministers sat in compliant silence, with no rebuke for Murphy, then any belated calls from such sources for him to consider his position are only for the optics. The truth is this has been a collective failure by the Executive, with the crisis firmly stamped ‘Made in Stormont’.
“The first thing that needs to be done now, apart from Murphy and Mackenzie taking the exit door, is for the Utility Regulator to launch a no holds barred investigation into everything that happened, including the administrative and political bungling, the lack of preparation, the shambles at the top of NIW and DRD and the patent refusal to ease things by asking for help from UK Water - if, this was a political decision, then so much the greater shame on Murphy.”
