Irish infrastructure projects ‘are facing long delays’

A new report suggests that businesses will continue to pollute because of Ireland's inefficient transport infrastructure, as government improvements are delayed.


The Sunday Business Post saw a Government report which indicated that almost every transport project due to be completed before 2010 as part of a Euro 34bn plan will miss its original completion date.

Projects featured in the Transport 21 scheme include the M50 upgrade, the Portlaoise train depot and the joining of the two Luas lines in Dublin city centre.

Schemes which were due to be completed in 2008 have now been pushed back to 2009 and 2010, the newspaper reports.

The news will come as a blow to Irish businesses looking to cut down their emissions.

At a meeting of small businesses group the ISME, chairman J J Killian said that poor infrastructure in the country was harming business and adding to pollution.

“Although the economy is continuing to grow, the infrastructure bottle-neck is starting to cause real problems for Irish businesses and unless the problem is addressed, could threaten future economic growth prospects,” Mr Killian explained.

A recent World Economic Forum report suggested that poor road and rail networks pushed Ireland back to 22nd in a list of the most competitive global economies.

James Cooper

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