Madam, - I do not wish to trivialise the very real, and in places painful, effect that the ongoing Luas works are having on our capital city. But I suggest that the associated costs, measured in economic and social terms, equate to a penance that we as a city, country and body politic must pay for lacking the foresight to prevent the dismantling of our city's tramways and railways in times past. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN CLINTON,
Harrington Street,
Dublin 8.
Madam, - We are told that the Railway Procurement Agency's budget for building LUAS is €765 million and that the contractor AMB JV is claiming a further €50 million for variations (The Irish Times, September 1st). Variations arise for only one reason: the failure of the client, the RPA, to specify the work in sufficient detail before signing the contract; anything else is just excuses.
There is a saying, "The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in battle". It would appear that the RPA is bleeding because of inadequate planning work. And the contractor is being castigated for demanding payment for variations that by definition were not part of the original scope of the work. - Yours etc.,
TONY ALLWRIGHT,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.