OPW should never have been given responsibility for modular homes — Alan Kelly

Vivienne Clarke

Former Labour party leader Alan Kelly has said that the Office of Public Works (OPW) should never have been given the responsibility for the provision of modular homes for refugees.

“They really didn’t have the necessary skill set” for such a task, he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.

“In my opinion, this was more aligned with housing and local government departments.”

In an opening statement given to members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), on Tuesday, OPW officials argued that the cost was higher than forecast because of the emergency nature of the pilot programme.

Last month, in a report from the Comptroller and Auditor General, it emerged that the cost of the units had more than doubled compared to original estimates, and now stands at €442,000 with the total cost for the project of providing 654 homes now in the region of €289.3 million.

Mr Kelly expressed exasperation that the average tender price per unit had been €145,000, but the eventual price was €297,000 per unit for site works. “Now remember a lot of these are put side by side, so that’s €297,000 per unit to clear the site for water, sewerage, electricity.

“So for the public that’s the equivalent of 654 bike sheds.”

Mr Kelly said there was also an issue in how sites were chosen, the sites were too small and were not appropriate which had meant extra costs.

“It just doe not add up that sites could cost €297,000 per unit where you put in some cases 80 units, 40 units, 50 units.

"The reality is there should have been larger sites identified more quickly. But I get the sense from the OPW, from what was said yesterday at the committee, that the OPW very much were left on their own quite a bit here and just had to go through with what it was given.”

Mr Kelly said that the Land Development Agency and local authorities could have given up lands. He did not believe that the OPW should have ever been put in the situation where they had to take on this project.

It should have been under the auspices of a senior cabinet minister who could have ensured cooperation from local authorities in identifying “proper sites”.