Concerns at ‘eye-watering’ €150m lost on abandoned transport projects

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

The Oireachtas spending committee has severely criticised the loss of €150 million in Exchequer funds on abandoned transport projects, including Metrolink.

A report states €99 million was lost on the old Metro North project, and expenditure of €18.7 million was lost on Metro West, as the suspended project is not included in the National Development Plan or National Transport Authority strategies.

It also noted that the Department of Transport had said that 20-25 per cent of the cost of original Dart Interconnector project, totalling €45 million, had a residual value, meaning there was a loss of €31.5-33.8 million.

It blamed the ineffective use of time and money by Governments over two decades on the waste, and has called on the National Transport Authority (NTA) to report on learnings from this to the committee by September.

Members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) expressed concern at the fact that €300 million had been spent up to the end of March 2023 on the Metrolink, and the old Metro North and the Metro West projects.

Physical construction has yet to begin on a metro system for the Greater Dublin Area.

Members have called on the state agencies involved to ensure that the cost does not exceed €9.5 billion, an estimate given by the Department of Transport in April this year.

A report by the committee published on Tuesday recommended that the department provide a report on the Metrolink project by September, and every year after that for the duration of the project.

The PAC’s Examination of the 2019 and 2020 Appropriation Accounts for Vote 31 – Transport, the 2020 Financial Statements for the National Transport Authority, and the 2020 Financial Statements for Transport Infrastructure Ireland, makes recommendations on five related issues.

These include spending on public transport infrastructure projects; PPP contracts and matters concerning toll schemes; and expenditure on the Irish Coast Guard’s operations.

Chair of the PAC and Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley said that Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan needed to use whatever power he has to “intervene and knock heads together” to ensure there was joined-up thinking between state agencies and to avoid further delays.

Fianna Fáil TD Paul McAuliffe said that the 150 million euro was an “eye-watering” amount, and said that from what he has seen, much of the waste was redesign costs for what is in essence three different Metrolink projects.

He said: “We have to make sure these infrastructure projects in some ways are insulated from short-term political decisions, and they also in some ways have to be recession-proof.”

He said that the decision not to proceed with the project between 2011-2015 “has had a huge impact on the project”.

“There are sites in my area that were CPO-d that will never be used,” he said.

“The whole, culmination of all this is that local residents don’t believe Metro will ever be delivered by any government.”