Council seeks clarification from Minster
O’Dowd says over €200m remains available
The fallout from the failure of Louth County Council’s application funding to the tune of €56m for the Port Northern Cross route has continued all week but the officials at County Hall have remained silent on the issue until today.
Obviously smarting from the Project Assessment Report which awarded them a score of just 315 points out of a possible 1,000, the council has issued a statement this afternoon asking that they be provided with full details behind the markings in the report.
“There is no detail provided with the marks that have been given and in such a scenario it is difficult to comment specifically” they said.
They also revealed that Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien has agreed to a request from Joan Martin, the Chief Executive of Louth County Council, for a meeting to clarify his decision.
“The Secretary General of the Department has stated that officials are available for feedback and the Council will avail of this. However, Louth County Council believes, in the interest of openness and transparency, that the markings for all applications, successful or otherwise should be made public, so as to properly understand the thinking behind the scores allocated to projects.”
Some of the comments in the Project Assessment Report are very damning however and it is difficult to see what either the Minister or the Secretary General can do to help the situation as it stands.
As once source said today: “The Minister might be able to bounce them up if they were anywhere near the 600 points needed to qualify but from 315 to 600 is a hell of a big bounce!”
The phrase “There are serious or inherent weaknesses in relation to the criterion” is used six times in the report which also states: “…while the capability of the local authority to deliver such a project is not in question, this particular project does not demonstrate or meet with the core objectives of the fund which is principally to support compact sustainable growth.”
Deputy Fergus O’Dowd said that it is quite clear to him that officials have determined that there are serious and inherent weaknesses in the application.
“Serious concerns on value for money, strategic alignment to the National Development Plan and climate change have all been highlighted. Officials outlined that the project did not even meet the core objectives of the fund itself” he said.
“I have had a lengthy discussion with Minister O’Brien today and the effective solution I believe is that the Department of Transport fund a significant contribution towards the capital road element of the project, and the Department of Housing working closely with Louth County Council to proceed with the URDF focusing on the Urban Renewal element.
“The Minister has again confirmed to me that over €200m remains available for key projects that did not make this round of funding. It is quite clear that a further rejigged review would more than likely prove fruitless unless the Department of Transport becomes involved and part funds the route.
“I have separately written to the Chairperson of the Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage requesting that the matter be brought before the committee urgently, we need full transparency in terms of how this application failed so dismally.”
Mayor Kevin Callan and other Drogheda Councillors are this afternoon holding a zoom meeting ahead of the next Council Meeting which takes place on Monday, also remotely, and is expected to be “lively”.
Many Councillors are very angry that they were not notified of the results and the first they knew about it was when they heard it on local radio.
