Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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709. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government further to Parliamentary Question No. 627 of 2 October 2018, the timeline for this project from the beginning pre-planning application to the estimated time of delivery of the four turnkey units; the historical amount of funds released for this project by his Department; if there are funds in excess of the €1.1 million allocated should the project overrun or encounter further unforeseen construction issues (details supplied); if a contractor has been appointed for this project; if there are penalty clauses for a delay in the delivery of the project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43954/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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My Department issued Stage 1 approval in principle for the scheme concerned in August 2016 and this was followed by a revised Stage 2 in December 2017 and Stage 3 in April 2018.  As stated in my previous reply, Stage 4 approval for construction and associated funding of €1.1m was sanctioned in July of this year allowing the scheme to progress to construction.  An over run of costs is not anticipated.  To date €37,661 has been recouped to Wicklow County Council for expenditure on this scheme.

It is understood from the Council, that construction is anticipated to commence on site in the first week of November 2018; however, some enabling works are being carried out prior to commencement. It is expected that the scheme will be completed in the third quarter of 2019. 

With regard to penalty clauses, publicly funded construction contracts are regulated by the conditions of contract known as the GCCC Forms of Contract published by the Office of Government Procurement.  A requirement of the contract is that the Employer must make a pre-estimate of its loss or damages in the event of non-completion by the due date, which is included in the tender documents. It is a matter for the local authority concerned as the Employer and a contracting party to comply with the requirements of the contract. The Employer should deduct such damages from money due to the Contractor, in the event of non-completion by the due date, unless this date is extended for reasons set out in the contract. Responsibility for complying with the conditions of the contract rests with the two contracting parties, i.e. the local authority and the Contractor.