Transport 21 scheme ‘seriously flawed from outset’

The Government's Transport 21 programme has come in for criticism in a new report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).

The think tank says the €34bn scheme is seriously flawed, with no consumer focus and no mechanisms to ensure value for money.

ESRI economist Sean Barrett says the plan for developing roads and transport services was badly thought out from the start as it fails to examine the costs of each project separately and fails to consider alternatives.

Fine Gael TD Olivia Mitchell has agreed with the criticism, saying the Government has made no economic case for many of the Transport 21 schemes.

"It's just not a way to do business," she says. "We'll be paying for some of these projects right up to 2050. It's too big a spend to make on the basis of intuition or guesswork."