Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 February 2012
553 Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will clarify a matter (details supplied) regarding the Dublin metro; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6264/12]
View answerAs Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. Following the establishment of the National Transport Authority (NTA) in December 2009, the implementation and development of infrastructure projects in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), such as Metro North comes under the remit of the NTA. I understand from the NTA that €154.5 million has been spent on developing the Metro North project to end 2011. The NTA advise me that most of this funding will retain its value when the project re-emerges in the future.
Obviously, the procurement process for the project would have to be re-run in the future and, depending on whether that would be a conventional or Public Private Partnership (PPP) process, the cost for such a major project would amount to several million Euro. However, in essentially all other respects, the investment to date in the project for which planning permission (Railway Order) has been secured will retain its value. This is relevant to work relating to design, railway order and statutory approval, land and property acquisition and advance works.
Large scale projects such as Metro North were not affordable within current funding constraints for inclusion in the Infrastructure and Capital Investment Programme 2012-2016 — Medium Term Exchequer Framework published last November. However, this project will be reviewed again in 2015 in advance of the next capital programme which will cover the period from 2016 onwards.
