A community swimming pool that was expected to cost less than €13 million has already cost nearly €18 million and even though construction began in 2019, it is still not open.
The pool facility in Lucan in West Dublin has been dogged by delays with the final cost of the project now expected to rise to around €20 million.
When it was originally costed in 2017, South Dublin County Council expected the final bill to be around €12.985 million.
A project schedule from the time said that once the contract was awarded, it should only take fourteen months to construct.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic, severe weather, and a variety of other issues have seen the project go way beyond schedule with completion dates pushed back at least a dozen times.
A series of updates to queries from councillors show how the opening day for the swimming pool and leisure centre kept shifting.
In late 2020, a local representative was told the handover date was meant to be February 2021, but that this had been moved back to June 2021.
An update said: “The project has been significantly delayed due firstly to poor weather conditions in the early part of 2020 and then the enforced closure of the site for a number of weeks during the COVID-19 national lockdown.”
In late 2021, another councillor was given an update saying the completion date was now likely to be in April or May of 2022.
That date then got pushed to August 2022 though even that proved hopelessly optimistic.
Local Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin asked in January 2023 when the pool was likely to be open and was told June 2023 was now the target and that this was “very disappointing” to the council.
A letter to him said: “As you will be aware the project has been impacted significantly by various construction sector challenges.”
By last year, the project still wasn’t complete with councillors told in August 2024 that the local authority was still working with the contractor to “agree a revised programme.”
In February of this year, Deputy Eoin Ó Broin again sought an update and was told more resources were being provided to “expedite project completion.”
A letter to him said: “The council understands both the importance of this project to the local community and the frustration that the delays have caused.”
An update to councillors in January said: “Completion of the project continues to be challenging, primarily; as noted previously, due to contractor resources and sub-contractor availability.
“[We are] continuing to intensively manage the project and main contractor to achieve the earliest possible completion dates.”
South Dublin County Council had originally refused to provide details of how much they had so far spent on the project.
However, following an appeal under FOI laws, they disclosed that costs so far were €17.87 million, which included €15.7 million in payments to the main contractor.