TEAROOMS BEING CONSTRUCTED in Merrion Square have run up a consultancy bill that’s triple the original budget.

Delays and “exceptionally high building inflation” have been blamed for the overspend.

The project, first green lit in 2015, involves constructing tearooms at Merrion Square Park in Dublin 2. Included in the plans are a terrace, plants, external lighting, alterations to an existing fence and steps to the playground.

A 2024 audit by Dublin City Council found the costs for consultant architects for the project had risen from €246,000 in 2015 to €655,000 in 2024.

The original contract had been extended by 166%.

Dublin City Council said this doesn’t comply with the national and EU procurement regulations. There are rules around how much the value of a contract can be changed after it was awarded.

The audit said: “This project has been subject to significant delays over the past 10 year from preliminary design to construction during a period of exceptionally high building inflation.”

There was a four-year delay in designing the project due to the pandemic, “value enginnering”, and adjustments for new fire safety and accessibility guidelines.

The report said there was also an “increase in design scope associated with a higher value building”.

The construction contractor was tendered in 2022 at €4.6 million. Construction costs as of 2024 amounted to €921k.

In December of last year, the tearooms had a projected completion date some time in Q4 of 2025. The council would not confirm whether this timeline has been revised, but completion before 2026 is looking unlikely.

The project was given a budget of €6.1 million.