Conor Lenihan
Question:300 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will move all public road contracts to a system of design and build rather than the current system. [23517/99]
Written Answers. - Public Roads Contracts.
Conor Lenihan
Question:303 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Scotland has moved to a design and build system for the building of public roads and that this has greatly added to the cost effectiveness and speed of construction of these roads. [23521/99]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 300 and 303 together.
The National Roads Authority has already been promoting the design and build approach in relation to national road projects. DB approach has been used for the Jack Lynch (Lee) Tunnel and is proposed for the Dublin Port Tunnel project. The NRA have also sponsored the DB approach for two pilot projects, the N25 Kilmacthomas by-pass and N9 Moone – Timolin pro ject, using the Alternative Tendering Initiative which is designed,inter alia, to give greater certainty as to outturn costs and to reduce the adversarial character of contractual arrangements. NRA will consider the wider application of DB contracts in the light of the experience of these pilot projects.
Future developments in this area will also be guided by the policy framework set out in the National Development Plan, which envisages very substantial private sector participation in the delivery of the national roads programme.
Conor Lenihan
Question:301 Mr. C. Lenihan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will introduce the lane rental system for contractors on major public roads as used in the United Kingdom in order to speed up the building and maintenance of motorways. [23518/99]
The lane rental concept involves charging a contractor for occupying lanes of a public road. The intention is to encourage a contractor to find innovative design solutions to minimise traffic disruption and to ensure that the project is completed on time. The concept is especially appropriate to design and build projects – a form of public private partnership – given a contractor's greater control over a project. To date the use of lane rental has been employed in two design and build projects, specifically the N25 Kilmacthomas by-pass and the N9 Moone to Timolin.
Future developments in this area will be overseen by the National Road Authority in the context of the policy framework set out in the National Development Plan, which envisages very substantial private sector participation in the delivery of the national roads programme.