THE MASSIVE Ballymun regeneration project in north Dublin will cost double its original estimate and will take six years longer than planned, a new report by the State's spending watchdog has found.
The special report by Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell found that while there had been a high standard of physical redevelopment, it has come at a cost. The original master plan for the suburb, drawn up in 1998, provided for a budget of €442 million and for the work to be completed by 2006.
However, the comptroller found that this target proved to be over-ambitious due to the the constraints and logistics involved.
The revised timescale is now 2012 and the new estimate is €942 million, without taking inflation into account. According to the report, 12 of the 36 blocks of flats have been demolished and about half of the public housing programme had been completed.
The comptroller found that delays have been attributed to a wide range of factors. They included an extended planning process; deficiencies in the mapping of existing utilities (such as mains pipes and underground electrical cables); delays due to the discovery of asbestos; a longer-than-envisaged consultancy process with residents; procurement problems in an overheated construction market; the collapse of some of the contacted companies, as well as health and safety issues.
The report said some of the delays could have been lessened by better planning and risk management. Mr Purcell also recommended a risk analysis of the remaining stages of the project.
The comptroller acknowledged that much of the increase had arisen because the redevelopment has taken place in "an existing inhabited community".
He was critical, however, of what he called "estimation deficiencies, including a failure to provide for associated administrative costs". The absence of any administrative costs, plus other costs, have added more than €100 million to the final budget.
Ciarán Murray, managing director of the company behind the project, Ballymun Regeneration Ltd, yesterday welcomed the report and confirmed that a risk analysis was being undertaken. He said the delays "have occurred for a range of complex and interconnected reasons".
