The taxpayer should be protected from “escalating costs” in Government projects, according to the chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley said the decision to award construction company BAM Ireland the contract for the €102 million Narrow Water Bridge, connecting Down and Louth, “made me pause”.

BAM is the company behind the National Children’s Hospital which was initially budgeted at €800m but is now expected to cost €2.5 billion.

Construction at the National Children's Hospital.

On Newstalk Breakfast, Deputy Stanley said the past records of companies should be considered when awarding public contracts.

“I think that companies where they’ve had a past record of persistent problems, delays, escalating costs, legal contests regarding claims, etc – all that needs to be taken into consideration,” he said.

“I’m talking in general terms about all companies involved in all public contracts.

“We’ve had examples across the board in the past; we’ve also had some good projects carried out on time within budget and that’s a positive thing.

“However, a lot of contracts carried out for public bodies, local authorities, Government departments, have run over cost and there have been problems with workmanship, such as in schools.”

'Risk is on the taxpayer'

The PAC chair said Government needs to tighten up contracts.

“When public bodies and the Government are signing off on contracts, we need to make sure we know what’s being signed off on,” he said.

“At the moment, a lot of the risk is on the taxpayer and the public purse.

“We’ve seen situations with various projects where costs continue to skyrocket and public bodies, the State and the taxpayer need to know the public purse is protected against that.”

Taoiseach Simon Harris visit the site of the Narrow Water Bridge in County Louth to announce that construction is commencing, 04/06/2024. Photograph: Government Information Service Via Rollingnnews

Deputy Stanley said there is a “weakness” to Government contracts.

“We have an office of Government procurement, and that office needs to engage in a major overhaul of how we do things,” he said.

“There are some legal restraints and legal minds need to be put to work on that to see how to tighten things up.

“How loopholes can be closed, how we can reduce the risk on the taxpayer; we can’t have a situation where there are open-ended contracts and open-ended prices.”

The Sinn Féin TD added that hospitals and bridges are “badly needed” in Ireland.

Main image: PAC. Construction at the National Children's Hospital, 10-7-2020. Photo: Sasko Lazarov / Rollingnews.ie