Govt 'absolutely committed' to delivering Dunkettle Interchange upgrade despite delays

The Government has said it is “absolutely committed” to delivering the Dunkettle Interchange upgrade despite considerable delays.

At a press conference in Dublin, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said there have been delays, the project is to be re-tendered, but that it will go ahead.

Construction on phase 2 of the major project is scheduled to begin later this year.

“The government and the National Transport Authority are absolutely committed to to the delivery of that project. Additional time was needed to allow the project to be re-tendered,” Mr Donohoe said.

“And that project is currently in the process now of being re-tendered.

We wanted to ensure that we could get the best value for the delivery of what I know is a really important project with the county and city of Cork.

The project, expected to cost up to €250 million, is seeking to reconfigure the current interchange to eliminate stoppages and allow free-flowing traffic.

The project includes changes to the N8, the N25 and the N40 and links to the R623 in Little Island and Burys Bridge in Dunkettle while also making provision for pedestrian and cyclist facilities.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland cited “worse-than- anticipated ground conditions and the consequent increase in scope” as the reason it will go back to the market to find a contractor to take on the construction stage of the process.

It said the funds to complete the project have been ringfenced and the value of the contract will be confirmed once the tendering process is complete.

However, it has been speculated recently that the estimated cost of the upgrade has spiralled from initial estimates of €100m to more than €170m.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said that Cork “is losing out as a result of this Government’s complete mismanagement of capital projects” and the latest delay “raises serious questions about the way this process has been handled”.

“This upgrade was promised over five years ago but has been plagued by missed deadlines and increasing costs,” Mr Martin said.

The transport minister must clarify the degree to which he believes savings will be made as a result of this decision.

"He must also outline how the project was allowed to reach this sorry stage when red flags had been raised at various stages of the process.”