KILDARE: High costs and lack of staff slow down construction projects

Building projects which promote walking and cycling are not starting because of  the increase in the cost of building materials and a lack of labour.

There were two of the causes identified by Kildare County Council as reasons for project delays.

At the start of this year KCC was told it would get  €13.7m from the National Transport Authority as part of the Active Travel Programme for 2022, which promotes pedestrian and cyclist routes in public spades.

This money covered 26 projects and an allocation for staff costs. 

A KCC meeting was told that the NTA has paid the council a total of €9.7m for works completed and this represents 71% of the original allocation.

However additional projects were assigned funding to replace the shortfall in

Expenditure.

According to KCC official Celina Barrett there are multiple reasons for the difference between the government’s allocation and the council’s expenditure and the main challenges are “consultant and contractor labour limitations, the complexity of designing practical and suitable civil engineering interventions in urban contexts, rigorous procurement and financial regulations and the timescales of statutory planning approval processes.”

A KCC meeting was also told that  mechanisms to limit the delay in appointing service providers have been put in place.

However, one project had to be re-tendered three  times before any service provider engaged in the procurement process.

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