OPW blames ESB for extra costs and delays to €490k wall

The OPW report details delays it says were caused by the ESB and enumerates how fees charged by the ESB and Dublin City Council added €211k to the budget. File picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

An Office of Public Works (OPW) report on a controversial €490,000 boundary wall project said the ESB had tried to charge an extra €57,000 to divert an electrical cable already supposed to be fixed.

The summary report detailed how the original completion date for the project had gone from December 2022 until December 2024, adding that it was dogged by delays and extra costs. 

Six-month delay 

The report was critical of the ESB, saying the Office of Public Works had made payment of €54,000 in March 2023 for electrical works and understood that work on a live cable would start at once.

It did not begin until September, which meant the actual reconstruction work on the unsafe wall at Lansdowne House, Dublin, did not recommence until October.

It was quickly halted again, with the report saying another section of live cable was discovered beneath the wall at the Workplace Relations Commission headquarters.

It said: “It should be noted that this remaining section of high voltage cable was outlined within the original… diversion application from October 2023, and should have been diverted in its entirety.”

ESB sought further €57k

The Office of Public Works said that, when contractors raised the new issue with the ESB, a further €57,000 was sought to rectify the problem. The government office refused to accept that fee and, following negotiations, decided they would hire an external contractor to carry out the job instead.

However, problems with the ESB continued, according to the summary report, which was released under the Freedom of Information Act. A timeline from March 2024 said: “Further contact was made with ESB in relation to the completions of civils work to Lansdowne Park, in an effort to reopen car parking spaces and remove the ongoing traffic management equipment requirement.”

By the end of May, these works still had not been completed and the government office had to continue to pay Dublin City Council for occupying parking spaces on the road outside.

Additional ESB fee 

In June, the Office of Public Works was told the ESB would need to apply for a road permit and, in July, they were told a new engineer was in charge.

The report said: “[The new ESB manager] advised an additional fee would be required to carry out these works, and meeting on site to scope work would be needed.

“The contractor again reminded ESB of the ongoing delay and costs associated with the car parking restrictions and hiring of the traffic management equipment.”

Between August and November, further attempts were made to get the ESB to make good their part of the project “with no progress made”.

At the end of November, the ESB finally returned to close over a draw pit and reinstate the road and footpaths. 

A summary timeline from December said: “Traffic management equipment removed on Lansdowne Park, with pathway and parking spaces made available for public use. The project is completed.”

Wall itself came in below estimate 

In an outline of costs, the report said the original budget for the wall had been about €188,000, exclusive of Vat, and this part of it had come in slightly below estimate. However, a further €54,000 was paid to the ESB for the diversion of the first part of the live electrical cable. Dublin City Council was paid €61,000 for loss of parking and paths.

Fixing the second part of the electrical cabling and the “subsequent delay” involved ended up with a further €95,491 on the bill. 

That added another €211,000 to the overall cost (ex VAT) which, when VAT was included, brought the final overall bill to around €490,000.

Asked about the records, both the OPW and the ESB said they had no comment to make.