Nore drainage scheme draws harsh criticism
The Office of Public Works originally estimated the River Nore drainage scheme in Kilkenny City was going to cost €13 million, but the bill has now reached almost €48 million and may still rise further.
Coincidentally the suggested return on the investment from flood prevention also increased exponentially along the way, from an initial estimated economic benefit of €22.4 million to the present figure of €100 million:
December 1999: Cost €13m = Economic Benefit €22.4m.
November 2000: Cost €24.4m = Economic Benefit €34.1m.
March 2001: Cost €34.8m = Economic Benefit €43.5m.
August 2003: Cost €47.8m = Economic Benefit €100m.
Defending the rising costs against quite scathing criticism at the Dáil Public Accounts Committee yesterday, OPW chairman Sean Benton argued that the scheme represented value for money and had been subjected to rigorous cost benefit analysis.
The methodology for the cost benefit analysis of flood relief schemes was based on research in Britain by the Flood Hazard Research Centre at Middlesex University and was also validated for the OPW by Goodbody Economic Consultants, he said.
On the difference between the original and final economic benefit calculations, Comptroller and Auditor General John Purcell said a health warning needed to be applied to the figures. “It seems to be very much a movable feast.”
Responding to the C&AG’s cutting intervention, new PAC chairman Michael Noonan commented: “I thought it was a double edged sword there, but there were about four edges to that sword.”
John Dennehy, FF, questioned the expertise of the people calculating the initial estimate, while FF TD John McGuinness blamed the OPW and the Department of Finance, who watched the costs grow from €13 million to €50 million.
“The silence is the best I have ever seen. The management from the Department of Finance is the worst I have ever seen. The management from the OPW is beyond belief.”
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