COMMITTEE REPORTS ON £34 MILLION BELFAST BANGOR RAIL FIASCO

Mr John O’Dowd, Chairperson of the Northern Ireland Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), today said that he was gravely concerned with the lack of control and oversight which the Department for Regional Development (DRD) had over Translink in its £34 million upgrade of the Belfast to Bangor railway line.

The Committee in its report stated:

“In January 2001 the Department approved a project, with a budget of £14.7 million and scheduled for completion by December 2001. However, the project experienced a number of difficulties with the result that the final cost of the project was almost £34 million and it was completed nine months later than planned in September 2002.”

Mr O’Dowd commented:

“From our review we were able to identify that there were serious key failures in the management of the project; a failure to produce a realistic economic reappraisal; a failure to revisit the economic appraisal when it was clear that the project was seriously over budget; and perhaps most importantly, a failure of the Department to hold Translink to account.”

Mr ODowd was speaking today at the launch of the Public Accounts Committee’s first report “The Upgrade of the Belfast to Bangor Railway Line” at Parliament Buildings, Stormont.

He continued:

“In light of our findings, I have to question Translink’s ability to undertake major capital projects. The lack of proper controls over the lead consultants, Maunsell Rail, resulted in an additional cost of up to £13 million through poor contract specification and the provision of a design which could not be used. To make matters worse, when their contract was eventually terminated, they were allowed to walk away without any liability for their failures. Furthermore, the absence of management controls within Translink itself, particularly over contract variations, was akin to giving the contractor a blank cheque.”

Mr O’Dowd added that the Committee was extremely concerned with the quality of record keeping within Translink. They had found it particularly disturbing to learn that a former senior member of staff had removed and destroyed a substantial number of files, and the attempt by the Director of Corporate Affairs to retract part of the public record relating to the Termination Agreement.

Mr O’Dowd concluded:

“At the outset, the Department should have assured itself that Translink had in place basic public sector procurement processes before providing funding for a multi million pound capital programme. Absence of written contracts, a lack of competitive tendering and extensions of consultants’ contracts as highlighted in the evidence session are simply unacceptable.

We are also concerned that the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company Board did not carry out its duty to ensure that either the appropriate questions were asked or that this multi-million pound project was properly managed, despite the board members collectively receiving remuneration of £120,000 per annum. Ultimately this was the Board’s responsibility and there is no evidence that they informed themselves of the important issues or sought the opportunity to advise on other aspects.

“However, we welcome the recent review of corporate governance within the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company and Translink’s accreditation as a Centre of Procurement Excellence following extensive reviews of operating procedures. I trust that lessons will be learned from this project which can be read across the whole of the public sector capital programme. A repeat of such failings will not be viewed favourably by either the Committee or the taxpayer.”

NOTE TO EDITORS

Standing Orders under Section 60(3) of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 have provided for the establishment of the Public Accounts Committee (the Committee). The main statutory function of the Committee is to consider accounts, and the reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland (C&AG) laid before the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The C&AG is head of the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) and is empowered to investigate any area of expenditure and has a statutory right of access to all files and papers in Departments and public bodies.

The Committee Membership is as follows:

Chairperson	Mr John O’Dowd (Sinn Féin)
Deputy Chairperson	Roy Beggs ( Ulster Unionist Party)
Alliance Party	Mr Trevor Lunn
Democratic Unionist Party	Mr Jonathan Craig Mr Simon Hamilton Mr David Hilditch
Progressive Unionist Party	Ms Dawn Purvis
Sinn Féin	Mr Willie Clarke Mr Mitchel McLaughlin
Social Democratic and Labour Party	Mr John Dallat Mr Patsy McGlone

Information about today’s meeting can be obtained from the Information Officer –
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Room B2
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