Vol. 510 No. 6
298 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that there is on average a 30 per cent overrun on the construction cost of major road projects; and the proposals, if any, he has to rectify this. [23515/99]
302 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will supply a league table of cost overruns on major road and sanitary services projects over the past five years; and the contractors involved with the overruns. [23519/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 298 and 302 together.
My Department will seek to co-ordinate information in relation to water and waste water services projects and to have it compiled and forwarded to the Deputy. Management and co-ordination of the national roads programme is a matter for the National Roads Authority from whom the required information may be sought.
In July 1994 the Department of Finance issued Guidelines for the Appraisal and Management of Capital Expenditure Proposals in the Public Sector. Following this, my Department wrote to local authorities enclosing copies of these guidelines and reminding local authorities of the various circulars issued by the Department which supplement the information in the guidelines in relation to approval, design, construction, control and general management of capital projects.
The need to improve cost control and design economy in relation to national road improvements was agreed by the Irish authorities and the European Commission in the context of the mid-term review (1997) of the operational programme for transport (OPTRANS). Two studies have subsequently been undertaken under the OPTRANS technical assistance programme to assist the improvement of cost estimation and control procedures for national road projects: Design Options for Major Road Projects (MC O'Sullivan and Scetauroute) and Cost Effective Approaches to Design and Construction of Major Road Projects (Bovis Ireland and Staveley and Partners).
A national roads monitoring group, chaired by my Department, has also been established to progress the implementation of the key recommendations of these studies. The National Roads Authority, which participates in this committee, has already put in place new internal project control arrangements and is finalising road scheme development guidelines for local authorities. The NRA is also promoting a number of arrangements designed both to assist PPP procurement and to improve value for money.
