Chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Sinn Féin TD John Brady, has called on the government to intervene to prevent further waste of public funds on the shambolic €70 million children’s science museum project.
Speaking after today’s PAC meeting with the Office of Public Works (OPW), Teachta Brady said:
“Government must urgently intervene and assess the viability of the €70 million national children’s science museum project, before allowing any further taxpayer money to be committed.
“From the outset, this project has been an unmitigated mess as the OPW did not apply the relevant safeguards designed to ensure that public funds are used effectively and efficiently, and amounts to yet another shocking example of systemic failures leading to wastage of public money.
“There was a lack of transparency surrounding the selection process with no evidence that proposals were subject to a formal evaluation or that a competitive process was conducted, when the OPW entered a lease agreement with Irish Children’s Museum Limited (ICML) to build a national science centre in 2003.
“Even more troubling is that the OPW had no authority to approve the project in the first place, and yet committed the state anyway in a reckless dereliction of governance that exposed the Irish taxpayer to unnecessary risk.
“When first planned in 2003, the cost was estimated at €14.3 million, by 2013 that ballooned to €26 million, and now it stands at over €70.4 million. These jaw-dropping overruns show clearly there has never been proper financial oversight.
“The state has already spent over €4.3 million on the project, over 20 years on planning, legal fees and arbitration costs – with these costs rising, and nothing to show for it.
“While noting the legally binding commitment entered into by the OPW to build the centre adjoining the National Concert Hall on Earlsfort Terrace – with no sponsoring authority or department identified, and no funding committed in the new National Development Plan, there is currently no credible path forward for the project.
“Additionally, a privately-funded interactive science centre has been operating in Sandyford in Dublin since 2018, with approximately 300 interactive exhibits focused on science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics – diminishing the demand for a similar facility.
“The uncertainty around this project cannot go on indefinitely.
“Government must now move quickly to assess the future of this project and to prevent further waste of taxpayers’ money.”