Flaws led to €9bn roads cost overrun

GLARING weaknesses in the National Roads Authority (NRA) and two Government departments led to the cost of the national roads programme being underestimated by €9 billion, the Dáil spending watchdog heard yesterday.

In the initial years of the Government’s six-year National Development Plan, which began in 2000, the roads programme rose in cost from an estimated €7bn to €16bn.

Yesterday, the Dáil Public Accounts Committee said the NRA and the Departments of Finance and Transport needed to improve their estimating capabilities for the next national development plan.