The cost overrun on the Kildare bypass because of hydrology problems was €20 million and there will be continued high costs in monitoring the road, a conference in Tullamore heard yesterday.
At a meeting of the Irish Branch of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, the director of the Friends of the Irish Environment, Mr Tony Lowes, said a "chronic lack of resources" for the Geological Service of Ireland's groundwater section put the National Development Plan at risk from such delays and cost overruns.
Mr Lowes said a repeat of the cost overruns of €20 million required to protect the mid-Kildare aquifer is far more likely now that the groundwater protection scheme had been suspended.
"The Government will have only themselves to blame if another major project encounters similar delays and costs overruns," he said.