On time and within budget? Never

Comment A report in The Irish Times earlier this week on the proposed "partial" completion of the M50 sent alarm bells ringing across many sectors of the Irish business community.

The report indicated that while agreement had been reached between Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and the contractors allowing work to recommence on the construction of the motorway, it had, however, been decided that due to legal challenges concerning Carrickmines Castle, work on that section of the motorway would remain suspended.

It seems increasingly likely, therefore, that in 2005 we will find the M50 complete but for a distance of about 4km of incomplete motorway due to the Carrickmines impasse. This will require about 60,000 vehicles per day to leave the M50 before rejoining the motorway.

Again an Irish solution to an Irish problem. It would be almost funny if it wasn't so serious.

The M50 debacle is another example of our inappropriate planning laws; the influence of vested interest groups; and continuing problems of cost overruns and delays in major projects that are absolutely essential to Ireland's economic and social progress. Whether it is major road projects, energy supply initiatives or waste management facilities, the existing planning system seems incapable of offering any degree of consistency on timescales and certainty of outcome.

When coupled with problems inherent in the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) system and our local democratic process, Ireland seems totally incapable of delivering any major projects on time or within budget.

The history of the South Eastern Motorway section of the M50 serves to illustrate the point. Route selection started in 1995 based on results of earlier route evaluations published in 1992.

The Motorway Scheme was published in late 1997 and approval from the Minister for Environment was granted in 1998. The contract was signed in October 2001 and the tender price was €144 million.

The estimated current cost is €595 million and nobody is prepared to predict a completion date. But in the likely event of further legal challenges, it seems most unlikely that the road will be completed before 2006.

The current cost estimate of just under €600 million (€60 million per km) will again have to be revised upwards. We cannot allow this situation to continue.

The 10km South Eastern Motorway Section of the M50 between Ballinteer and Shankill is the final and vital part of the C Ring Motorway around Dublin. It forms part of Euro Route EO1 running from Rosslare via Dublin and Belfast to Larne.

Completion of the M50 is a central element of transport strategy for the Dublin area and links to the Dublin Port Tunnel, currently under construction. This is intended to remove 9,000 vehicles a day from the city centre.

In national terms, the M50 is set to play an enhanced role by connecting directly to the M1 Dublin-Belfast Road - which will be completed to motorway standard over a distance of 72km - and to the N11 Dublin-Wexford Road, which is being constructed to motorway/dual carriageway standard to south of Rathnew.

The Government has a critical role to play. In the specific case of the M50, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government could join with the county council in giving a consent under Section 14 of the National Monuments Act 1930, to proceed with the roadworks at Carrickmines.

In the event that such a consent were obtained, the county council could apply to the High Court to lift the present injunction, thereby allowing road construction work to resume in Carrickmines.

In terms of other critical infrastructure, IBEC believes the Government needs to introduce, as a matter of urgency, new legislation governing major projects. This should contain the following five essential elements:

Planning applications for all strategic infrastructure projects should go directly to An Bord Pleanála;

n Mandatory timetables for infrastructural planning decisions should be set;

A special planning body should be established in An Bord Pleanála to assess strategic infrastructure projects;

A special division of the High Court should be established to deal with infrastructural and environmental planning issues speedily and effectively;

Once projects have been approved and work commenced, no further challenges should be allowed.

The roll-out of major infrastructural projects on time and on budget is absolutely essential for our competitiveness. Severe damage has already been done to Ireland's international reputation in terms of our infrastructural deficit.

This is limiting our ability to attract foreign direct investment, particularly to regional areas.

It is also affecting the ability of Irish-based firms to compete on the international stage. At the end of the day, the deficit is putting Irish jobs at risk. The M50 situation is but an example of a much larger problem.

Brendan Butler is IBEC's director of enterprise