Vol. 533 No. 3
26 Mr. D'Arcy asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the reason the projected cost of the Luas project is now estimated to be in excess of £500 million or double the 1996 projected cost; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8765/01]
The current proposals for the development of the Dublin light rail system are materially different from the 1996 proposal. The current proposal comprises three lines and will serve a wider catchment area than the original. It involves lines from Tallaght to Abbey Street, Abbey Street to Connolly Station and from Sandyford to St. Stephen's Green.
Since 1996, a number of changes to the scope of the project have been introduced. These changes include the extension of line B from Dundrum to Sandyford, the preparation of the Sandyford-St. Stephen's Green line for upgrade to metro, a new line C from Abbey Street to Connolly Station and alterations to plans for road junctions and bridge works. Revised costs at current prices for the project are now being finalised and the latest projected figures are estimated at over £500 million to the planned completion date for the works in 2003.
The development of the light rail project is being undertaken in accordance with EU public procurement rules involving public tendering for all aspects of the project. Apart from changes in the scope of the project, the biggest single factor contributing to cost increases has been the change in the bidding climate due to the effect of inflation on tender pricing. All infrastructure development projects have experienced similar increases in the past few years where inflation related to construction has far exceeded the normal rate. The light rail project office of CIE has carried out value engineering exercises in order to keep cost increases to the minimum while ensuring, at the same time, that the expected high quality of the light rail service is not compromised.
I am assured by the fact that a cost benefit analysis carried out on the project, based on the revised costs, found that the case for the lines remains robust.
(Mayo): Will the Minister accept that when she became Minister in 1997, she inherited a ready to roll Luas system and while changes were introduced in the meantime, the core project is essentially the same? Will she accept that if the project had not been delayed at that stage and if people had not gone back to the drawingboard, the project would now be completed? Is she aware the exact same light rail system was planned and conceived from Montpellier in France at the same time as Luas in 1996-97 and it is now up and running and providing a service? Apart from a bit of digging around Heuston Station and other areas, Luas is largely a drawingboard project. Will she accept that is the fundamental reason the project has now gone from its original projected cost of in the region of £250 million to the astronomical figure of £500 million?
It is not a drawingboard project because the construction team has been accepted and the work has begun. The Deputy must not have visited Tallaght or other areas to see the work which is going on. It is a misconception that the project was ready to roll when I took office. There had been no public hearings at that stage.
There had been.
The judge met with people on one morning and decisions were taken. There were no public hearings on the project during the stewardship of Deputies Lowry and Dukes. The public hearings took a certain length of time and Judge Seán O'Leary was excellent in dealing quickly with the issue. There is an extension of the line from Dundrum to Sandyford, the preparation of the Sandyford-St. Stephen's Green line for upgrade to metro and a new line C. There have been huge inflationary increases in construction. Inflation in regard to road construction is huge and is much greater than in the case of this project. This is a good project and I wish to say well done to Deputies Lowry and Dukes for the work they put into the preparation of the project.
Will the Minister agree that this was a Labour Party project and it is now one of her great failures? Given that she was handed the project on a plate, will she agree that but for the opposition of the Progressive Democrats at the time, she would have proceeded with the project as planned? Will she further agree that the scheme which is now being proposed is simply a face saver for her, with one last leg of Luas left from Tallaght to Connolly Station and the Sandyford line development being used for a different type of trade? The Minister said the cost of the project will be at least £500 million for a small piece of the original Luas. There will be no tunnel and none of the grandiose plans she said were essential when she came into office. Will she now accept that she should abandon Luas altogether because it is no longer a viable project? One leg of a planned system for the whole city is all that is left. Will she agree she should abandon the project and use the money where it can be effective in solving Dublin's traffic problems?
I will not abandon Luas.
The Minister has already abandoned three-quarters of it.
The fact that it was a Labour Party project is news to me because I thought it was a Rainbow Government project.
—before the Rainbow Government was formed.
There are three lines, including line A from Tallaght to the city centre, line B from Dundrum to Sandyford, Sandyford to St. Stephen's Green, the tunnel, the new line C from Abbey Street to Connolly Station and alterations to plans for road junctions and bridge works. I do not intend to abandon Luas because the money is already provided for the project, the construction team is appointed and the contract is given.
(Mayo): At the recent press conference, reference was made to the fourth report of the Light Rail Advisory Action Group stating that a lack of inter-agency co-operation is now putting the project at risk, about which the Minister expressed anxiety. Has there been any progress in that regard? Is it a fact that the report specifically mentioned delays over the relocation of facilities at St. James's Hospital and roadworks in south County Dublin and the Long Mile Road to facilitate the Tallaght Luas line? Mr. Pádraig White is quoted as saying that these difficulties arise from funding problems. Will the Minister elaborate on what precisely is meant by funding problems in overcoming those issues?
The Deputy is correct. The report mentioned inter-agency difficulties. I am not sure to what the funding related. I understood it related to the hospital having to move its facilities which would clearly be funded by Luas. There were internal funding arrangements, not related to Luas but to some of the agencies. The Deputy is correct in relation to the hospital but other agencies were involved. As I understand it, since these issues were made public, the agencies have responded.
