Deficiencies in expertise and accounting in the National Roads Authority contributed to a €9 billion overrun in the cost of road building projects, a Dáil committee has found.
In an interim report on transport issues, the Committee of Public Accounts said the NRA, along with the Departments of Transport and Finance, needed to produce "more accurate cost forecasts for the roads programme".
While it said many road construction contracts were being completed on or ahead of schedule and within budget, road-building costs had risen from €7 billion to €16 billion in the early years of the National Development Plan.
Committee chairman Michael Noonan (FG) said the taxpayer had got "very bad value for money" in the sector.
While tighter controls had been introduced, some recent projects were still well wide of the estimates, he said.
A 2002 road-building scheme in Youghal, Co Cork, for example, came in more than four times its original estimate at €43.5 million.
The chairman said the committee had been unable to establish whether Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) provided value for money as information on relevant private contractors had been withheld from the Dáil body on grounds of confidentiality.
In its report, the committee said: "The Department of Finance should consider how effective parliamentary oversight of PPPs can best be secured."
It added that the Government should examine the possibility of purchasing the West-Link Toll Bridge, which, the committee concluded, was contributing to traffic congestion on the M50. The report said the revenue from tolling on the M50 "may now be outweighed by the economic disadvantages caused by congestion and journey time delays", adding that "PPP contracts should include a buy-out clause, where it is appropriate, to protect the interest of the taxpayer".
The committee also cited "serious errors" and "financial control weaknesses" in the Department of Transport. However, it said there was no evidence of fraud in the preparation of accounts.
Mr Noonan said he believed the department had contributed to cost overruns on road building by breaking projects into different phases in a deliberate attempt to discourage overseas contractors from competing for them. He added that "for policy or political reasons" the initial road-building programme had been introduced at a time when domestic contractors were working to capacity.
Pat Rabbitte (Lab) said the overruns had been a "hugely expensive learning curve for the Irish taxpayer", while Dan Boyle (Greens) cited "an unhealthy sense of complacency" about how public money was being spent.
Mr Boyle said he was concerned lessons had not been learned, noting that the estimated cost of the M50 upgrade had risen from €300m to €800m.
