Framework for Action on - Department of Taoiseach

DEPARTMENT OF THE TAOISEACH
FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION ON INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND PPPS
Section 2: Acceleration of programme and project delivery
11, Delivery by 2006 of the key objectives identified in Section 1, and of the overall ambitious
infrastructure programme contained in the NDP, represents an enormous challenge. The
scale of the challenge is exemplified by the fact that the indicative budget <strong>for</strong> national roads
<strong>for</strong> 2000-2006 is more than 3 times greater than <strong>for</strong> 1994-1999.
12. To meet this challenge successfully, project planning will have to be intensified and
accelerated, approval processes streamlined and the approach to project management
sharpened. Private sector resources must also be drawn in as much as possible, through the
PPP framework and otherwise, to increase delivery capacity <strong>for</strong> infrastructural programmes.
(For example, NRA have estimated that the planning of national road schemes at present
absorbs annually some 120 person years of NRA input and some 200 person years of
consultancy input. The expanded NDP programme will require the NRA annual contribution to
be increased to at least 200 person years and the consultancy contribution to be increased to
1,000 person years).
13. The Team have in the light of experience to date, set out in Appendix II recommendations
<strong>for</strong> speedier programme delivery and in Appendix III "Best Practice Guidelines" <strong>for</strong> speedier
project delivery. The Cabinet Committee should, in the Team's view, endorse these
recommendations which will then be <strong>for</strong>warded to all relevant implementing agencies <strong>for</strong>
appropriate action. This will include not only the transport agencies, such as NRA and CIE,
but all other infrastructural agencies including local authorities.
14. The enhanced programme and project management envisaged by this report will help
meet the greatly increased demands of the NDP transport infrastructure programme, and
rectify internal weaknesses in project management and delivery capability which have been
experienced in earlier programmes. However, the progress of transport infrastructure projects
is also increasingly being threatened or delayed by external objections and challenges: these
can involve judicial reviews, the EU complaints procedure, the requirements of other public
bodies or a combination of these factors. Improved project planning and management as
proposed above will help to anticipate and overcome some of these threats. The legal and
regulatory framework, which is to be developed (see section 4) will also help address these
problems.
15. The Team is aware that work on improving programme and project management is
already underway. For example the National Roads Authority (NRA) has already
strengthened its capacity by the creation of new management posts including a PPP
manager, and is conducting a further management review of the Road Safety/Transportation
and Pavement and Materials Research Division.
16. In addition, further proposals <strong>for</strong> strengthening the staffing of NRA Roads Programme
Division, including special arrangements designed to attract overseas based road engineers
on contract are at an advanced stage of consideration. The use of regional design teams,
aggregated procurement of schemes and overlapping of stages is expected to reduce the
normal planning/procurement period <strong>for</strong> a major roads project from 5 to 3½ years with the aim
of just over 3 years as the new objective.
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