Lucan pool delays causing local frustration, says Councillor

The opening of a new swimming pool in Lucan has been delayed again, and a local Councillor said the announcement is being met with “sheer frustration” and calls for “greater accountability and consequences for contractors” failing to meet deadlines for publicly procured projects.

Sinn Féin Councillor Derren Ó Brádaigh said he received an email correspondence from the Director in South Dublin County Council regarding another postponement to the latest expected delivery time for the end of October. 

“This really has become unacceptable,” he said. 

Work commenced on this pool project 5 years ago with an investment in the region of €10 million.

“There have been plausible reasons for delays to a point, including impacts from the Covid pandemic and challenges in the construction industry, however there is now simply no credibility remaining in the community, in terms of opening times being provided to anyone”, Ó Brádaigh stated.

“The contractor has been unable to either increase the resources on site to a sufficient level or to effectively coordinate the work from sub-contractors to meet this month’s eagerly anticipated deadline we are being told.”

“There remains an issue with the moveable floor being delivered now and the lead-in time for this could be up to 12 weeks – it would seem to me that we won’t be seeing the pool open this side of Christmas,” he said. 

Ó Brádaigh said the issue brings into focus the system currently in place and consequences in terms of meeting agreed public project contractual arrangements.

“Previously, Council officials stated that the delays were obviously far beyond what could reasonably have been envisaged at the outset of the project – they said at the time that the well-documented significant and unprecedented challenges in construction in recent years, due to various local and global factors outside of the control of the contractor and the Council accounted for considerable delays,” he noted.

However, he said that project management and performance have also contributed to the significant delay. 

“As a councillor, I can no longer offer a response to members of the community that I represent and when asked about works schedules, as I have personally become somewhat sceptical about timelines that we receive in general on project works.”

“This impacts on our own credibility and people’s confidence in anything else we say.”