COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 08, 2025

QUESTION NO. 27

QUESTION: Councillor E. Ó Broin

Given the delays with the construction of Lucan Pool and the enhancement of both Corkagh and St Cuthbert's Parks, is there a pattern emerging with respect to how some private contractors implement contracts they win from SDCC?

REPLY:

All projects under South Dublin County Council’s remit are subject to strict oversight and monitoring throughout their construction phase. Any variance from the baseline programme is immediately flagged and interrogated by the relevant team in order to determine the most appropriate actions to mitigate any delay.

The three projects referred to have suffered delays due to a variety of causes as outlined below:

• St Cuthberts Park:  Delayed as a result of repeated incidents of serious anti-social behaviour leading to a suspension of the works. This necessitated strict arrangements in terms of on-site operations and material/equipment storage to allow the project to resume.
• Corkagh Park: Delayed in large part due to the discovery of features of archaeological interest, which necessitated a temporary suspension of the works and liaison with the National Monuments Service.
• Lucan Pool: Originally bid in 2018/19, was initially delayed and impacted financially by a number of factors including: COVID 19 shutdowns / on site measures, hyperinflation, supply chain issues, and the availability of sub-contractors and tradespersons resulting from the initial delays. Further issues resulted from these factors as has been reported to the Elected Members previously by the Chief Executive.

Considering the above, there is no evident pattern of behaviour which emerges when the reasons surrounding the delays are examined in detail. While delays to these projects are regrettable, they represent a small percentage of the projects being undertaken by South Dublin County Council.