Overspending project leaders should be sacked, says planning expert

A PROJECT planning expert who helped execute Ireland’s successful hosting of the World Special Olympics has hit out at overspending on big state ventures following a critical report on the cost of regenerating Ballymun.

Project leaders should be sacked as an example when ventures go over budget or run late, contended Fergus O’Connell, a leading author and expert on steering projects.

Mr O’Connell, who formerly advised organisers of the Special Olympics in 2003 about efficiency, queried why multimillion-euro state contracts were running years late.