TII @ Oireachtas Commitee 28/06/2023

marno21

I was waiting for the debate transcript for this to come out having watched it live but TII have published the 116 page briefing document given to representatives. It was very much in the shadows of the RTE committee meeting ongoing in the committee room next door.

Lots to get your teeth into here.

https://www.tii.ie/news/press-releases/opening-statement-28-06/JCTC_28June2023_Opening_Statement-and-Appendices.pdf

(I feel sorry for them at the minute with trying to operate in this environment.)

Wow, that's a class collection of updates on so many projects

Appreciate the link

marno21

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120790379#Comment_120790379

Please play the ball not the man. And there is no ball to be played there from my reading of this thread.

Hibernicis

Dismal reading for the first 99 pages. Only bright light is the Active Travel Section, pages 100-118. The rest is an utter disaster. At this stage the TII boys must be concerned for their jobs.

marno21

Debate transcript attached

https://www.kildarestreet.com/committees/?id=2023-06-28a.1842

Note: focus was on the RTE committee meeting next door so attendance was atypically low.

Hibernicis

Reading that it was one of the better debates, majority of the questions and answers were worthwhile (with the exception of one contributor)

Peter Walsh, TII CEO explained the DEPR Decision Gates as they apply to TII projects:

Decision gate 1 is to submit the project to planning. It has been brought to the point where you can apply to An Bord Pleanála for the planning approval. Decision gate 2 is the decision to go to tender for the project. This is when it has come through the planning and whatever conditions might be applied to it. The project is developed in accordance with the planning approval and it is brought to the point where it can then be tendered. Decision gate 2 is going out of the market to seek a price to construct it...... There is a decision gate 3 then....... That is to award the contract, depending on the scale of the contract.

These are the three points at which the politicians get involved and can significantly disrupt progress.

Peter Walsh, TII CEO again:

I could pick a number of ten projects, and I am not saying that this number relates to anything. If I have ten projects and all are at a similar level of development, and I put them into the planning system, I do not know when they will come out or if they are going to come out. Some will take quite a number of years to get a decision on planning and others will spend several more years in judicial review if somebody takes a challenge.

Nigel O'Neill, TII Director of Capital Programmes said

With project delivery life cycle, eight years is really good. That is getting back to how we used to do things in the mid-2000s when, from origination and conceptual design to the opening ceremony for the road could be seven or eight years. Now we would expect 15 years on average. This is what we are seeing.

This latter point is the first time I've seen an official admission on the time it is taking to realise projects. And of course some projects (M6 Galway GRR which was mentioned, the M28, the M20 etc) where the 15 year average will be exceeded, sometimes by a wide margin.

Peter Walsh, TII CEO again: on the desirability of risk sharing in is desirable in public works contracts:

We have a derogation from the Office of Government Procurement for the use of an internationally recognised contract, the new engineering contract, NEC, form of contract, for Cork to Ringaskiddy. Cork County Council, with our support, will commence the seeking of expressions of interest from contractors for that. It could be indicative of how attractive it is and how it is perceived within the industry because we need to do something about recognising that the industry is losing interest in building infrastructure for the State from the point of view of roads. There are other jurisdictions, and we have recently had some contractors whose corporate boards decided it really was not worth their while taking on the risk so they withdrew from competitions. In recognition of that, we would like to see more flexibility and fairness brought into contracts.

One TD made a valiant effort at the start of the meeting to get Peter Walsh to say how many projects Ryan was holding up by manipulating section 24 of the Roads Act. After a lot of dancing around a pinhead, in response to the question "How many capital roads projects have been interrupted in their progression as a consequence of section 24 being used?" Walsh declared "The number is ten"

The discussion on Tolls, together with the data in the briefing document made sense, to me anyway, and despite the inevitable headlines and hysterics the increases appear reasonable. I'm sure others will take a different view.

The joint committee adjourned until 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 July 2023.

marno21

The joint committee adjourned until 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 5 July 2023.

Btw, this discussion at 1:30pm tomorrow is about bus drivers, in case anyone was waiting for more information.

TII won't be back for some time.

(They usually come about once a year but toll increases in Q1 2024 may necessitate their return).

Limerick74

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120799366#Comment_120799366

Think you had the wrong link to the transport committee transcript. Correct one here Toll Increases and Ongoing...: 28 Jun 2023: Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees (KildareStreet.com)