Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

My contribution will focus on the national roads programme and the West Link bridge.

The Government is committed to continuing to invest in our roads infrastructure. With the delivery of each new road, jobs can grow and community life is enhanced. When our programme is completed, Ireland will for the first time have a modern roads infrastructure to support economic and social life.

The Government has committed record resources of €7.8 billion over the period 1997-2005 for national roads. The return and benefits this investment is bringing in every part of the country are clear, especially for those who have had to put up with poor quality roads for too long. For each new project we are seeing the elimination of major traffic bottlenecks leading to shorter journey times and greater journey time certainty. The removal of key bottlenecks at Monasterevin, Kildare and Cashel, the opening of the Limerick southern ring road, the Sligo inner relief road, the Kinsale road interchange, the Kinnegad-Enfield bypass and the Dundalk Western bypass, and the widening of the Naas dual carriageway are just some of the significant benefits we have, or will see, on our road network.

The high quality network we are putting in place is contributing significantly to our national competitiveness, job creation and more balanced regional development. With the delivery of each new road we are ultimately improving the quality of life for thousands of people in bypassed towns and villages. We will continue to support this ambitious programme.

I want to place on record a few facts relating to the cost of the national roads programme. First, the NRA is completing this year's projects with a total outturn cost of €1.17 billion, which compares to a pre-construction budget for these projects of €1.18 billion. Second, of the 21 large scale road projects currently in construction and costing in excess of €15 million, 18 of these are on or under budget and will be delivered on or before time. Of the other three, each will be delivered on time. Any overruns are the result of increased land acquisition costs, planning matters or on-site construction issues.

It is fair to say that on infrastructure costs, for several Governments, involving several political parties, over several years, there have been challenges. The old style of contracts of the 1980s and 1990s, where any additional costs fell to the taxpayer, resulted in increased and inflated outcomes. The Government and its agencies, recognising this, have moved progressively and have changed this outdated structure. Most significantly, since 2002 we have moved to the greater use of the design and build form of contract which ensures greater certainty of outturn costs. This measure, introduced by the Government, has resulted in greater accuracy than existed ever before.

In addition, since 2000 the NRA has strengthened its cost estimation, control and procurement procedures on the delivery of roads. This is designed to have more accurate cost estimates from the earliest stages of a project and to ensure greater certainty of outturn costs between tender stage and completion date. Improvements include a greater use of the more efficient and cost effective design and build, lump sum fixed price contracts, the appointment of a cost estimation specialist who reviews all cost estimates, benchmarking of tender and scheme outturn costs, design and construction standards established by the publication of the NRA specification for roadworks and a design manual for roads and bridges, the adoption of a 26 m instead of a 36 m carriageway cross section for motorways and high quality dual carriageways, further attention to improving the quality of site investigations and acceptance by contractors as an agreed basis for pricing.

Each of these measures has led to an improvement in project management and consequential tightening on cost controls. The costs of construction services are determined through an open transparent public tendering process. Let us be honest with the public which we serve, it is the tender price that matters. The cost of the other major element of road projects, namely, land, is determined by negotiation and, if necessary, arbitration within the statutory process for purchasing land compulsorily. Every Member in this House who has worked for improved infrastructure in his or her constituency is very familiar with this process.

It is important to note that major road improvement projects are subject to robust economic and environmental appraisal. All the projects demonstrate a high rate of return. The Government will continue to work to achieve even greater certainty. We have initiated a process between Government and construction industry interests on fixed price contracts. This process is progressing and will conclude shortly.

The West Link bridge was also raised in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. A copy of my speech, which sets out the facts of this matter, has been circulated to the House. I thank the Comptroller and Auditor General who spotted an underpayment in respect of the bridge. We immediately had the matter resolved. While I am unhappy that such a matter arose, I want to ensure it will not happen again.

Deputies from Fine Gael and the Labour Party, during their time in Government, aspired to nothing more than mediocrity. Mediocrity in respect of the economy meant we did not generate the resources, mediocrity of vision meant we did not plan for the future, and mediocrity of management led to a growing infrastructural deficit.

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