Overruns on the Seamus Quirke Road upgrade have forced the Galway City Council to apply for an €8 million loan to complete the project.
Initial costings were prepared prior to construction commencing in September 2010 and estimated the cost of the scheme at €10.3 million.
Following commencement of works in late 2010 the council raised the estimated cost to €12.1 million due to additional claims by utility providers, consultancy fees, and other additional costs. That figure has now risen to €15.5 million.
Council officials said the original loan application for €5 million now needs to be increased to €8 million to cover the overrun.
Fine Gael councillor Pádraig Conneely criticised the council saying: “I’ll go further and say the project will probably cost closer to €20 million. I was right in my estimate on the square, and I won’t be far off on this. You are a PR disaster when it comes to the way you do your business. If you brought in Max Clifford he’d do nothing for you. You follow disaster after disaster and the taxpayer picks up the bill.”
Cllr Conneely outlined that the cost of interest on the loan must be added to the cost of the project. According to the council’s director of finance the interest will cost the council €2.6 million, bringing the total project to €18.1 million, an overrun of €7.8 million.
Fianna Fáil councillor Peter Keane described the project as a “shambles” and criticised City Hall’s ability to control the project. “It is costing €10,250 per metre to build the Seamus Quirke Road,” he said. He also criticised the contractors on the site for delays, stressing that: “Some businesses in Westside are within weeks of closing”.
Councillors voted to allow an application for the loan in order to complete the project.
