The body responsible for overseeing the Luas light rail project in Dublin has accepted some public criticism for problems with the scheme, but says the overall delay will be "far less than is generally reported".
The chief executive of the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA), Mr Frank Allen, told the Oireachtas Transport Committee that the RPA accepted there had been "reasonable criticism" over street excavations.
However, he insisted the heavy civil works on Luas would be "substantially complete" by the year-end. The mechanical and electrical work on the Sandyford line should be finished by March, and on the Tallaght line by May. This was a delay of approximately 12 to 14 weeks on the original timeframe, he said.
Mr Allen said today it was true that the same streets had been dug up and reinstated several times. But, he said this was due to the difficulty in getting the various agencies involved to coordinate their schedules.
The RPA said there had been circumstances where it had asked contractors to carry out work again as it was not satisfied it was of "sufficiently high standard".
Mr Allen said the RPA acknowledged the frustration of traders and residents, especially in Harcourt Street and in the streets from Benburb Street to Abbey Street.
"Building light rail through the heart of a built up area is inevitably disruptive and the concerns expressed in Dublin are consistent with experience in other countries," he said.
Mr Allen said the RPA did not accept the criticism that it had not informed residents and businesses about construction work or that it had not been responsive to their requests or complaints.
The RPA chief executive also said there were circumstances where agreeing to requests could have added significantly to the project cost.
The RPA said it has begun a retrospective analysis of Luas implementation to see "what lessons can be learned".
The Progressive Democrats spokesman on transport, Senator Tom Morrissey, who is a member of the Oireachtas Transport Committee, said the Luas contract was "seriously flawed".
"Last week the Transport Committee visited the Luas site on Benburb Street where the members witnessed first hand extremely poor safety standards and huge disturbances for pedestrians and city centre businesses," he said.
"Today, we raised these issues with the RPA but were told the agency is not able to impose sanctions - financial or otherwise - on the Luas contractors. The best the agency can do under the terms of the contract is 'prompt' the contractors to speed up construction, minimise disturbance and improve safety standards. In other words, adopt a 'softly, softly' approach."