The criticism follows confirmation that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is to tender for the construction stage of the Cork project as it could not agree on the costs with Sisk, the company that has carried out preparatory work on the Dunkettle interchange upgrade to date.

A statement from TII said “both parties remain committed to advancing the project”, but admitted that the need to move to tender for the construction contract will push back the estimated completion date by 12 months to 2023. However, the Construction Industry Federation warns putting the project back to tender may set it back by more than 10 years.

TII cited “worse-than- anticipated ground conditions and the consequent increase in scope” as the reason it will go back to the market to find a contractor to take on the construction stage of the process. It said the funds to complete the project have been ringfenced and the value of the contract will be confirmed once the tendering process is complete. However, it has been speculated recently that the estimated cost of the upgrade has spiralled from initial estimates of €100m to more than €170m.

In May 2017, a contract notice for the tender showed the value of the project was estimated at €77m before Vat, though the contract award notice last November revealed the pre-Vat value of the procurement was subsequently listed as €88.5m.

Last month, the Irish Examiner revealed that a document prepared by TII raised concerns that “at this early stage of assessment, there are areas of significant differences with the contractor in relation to pricing rates submitted. The delay has been met with widespread criticism, with Cork Chamber claiming “business in Cork is losing faith in the ability of government to deliver”, particularly as other infrastructure and housing projects are dependent on the completion of the interchange.

this article first appeared in the Irish Examiner