Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Committee on Infrastructure and National Development Plan Delivery
The Role of Engineering in Delivering High-Quality Infrastructure: Discussion
2:00 am
Mr. Tim Murnane:
I would say it is every project. Architects are involved early but engineers - certainly civil engineers - are involved right at the start. Electrical engineers get involved a little bit later perhaps. However, design team, let us call it, involvement early in projects is important because it is a really critical stage. There is not enough time allocated to it considering the number of efficiencies, savings and better solutions. If design is really valued and considered early on, and that includes not just the architect but also town planners, then the design team should be getting involved in adequate time. It is always that the programme is almost our master. The programme is the master. We have to hit that regardless of the consequences, whereas it should be that if we get the design right, we can get the programme sorted and there is more certainty.
No comments