Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 September 2015
1650. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport his views that issues and difficulties could have been foreseen in the initial planning of the now shelved DART underground that could have saved the Exchequer the €50 million; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31962/15]
View answerThis question appears to be based on media conjecture in recent weeks and much of the detail in the reports is far off the mark. The issue was considered by Government this morning and Government agreed that the DART underground project should be redesigned to provide a lower cost technical solution - it is not being cancelled. Indeed, the overall DART expansion programme, of which the underground tunnel is a critical element, remains central to the Government's strategy to meet the growing transport needs of the Greater Dublin Area. As originally designed, however, the underground tunnel element would account for approximately €3 billion of the overall cost of €4 billion for the whole DART expansion programme. At the Government's request, the National Transport Authority (NTA) carried out an updated analysis of the business case and found that the tunnel element of the programme could be redesigned to deliver a lower cost technical solution while maintaining the full connectivity of the original Programme. The Government has now agreed that this redesign should proceed and this work will be funded under the new capital plan which will be announced shortly. The Government has also decided that other elements of the DART expansion programme will be progressed under the new capital plan including the DART extension to Balbriggan and works to increase frequency of existing services.
It is imperative that we invest in our transport system to ensure that we can meet growing demand and tackle congestion so that it does not hinder economic growth. It is also important that in planning our investment strategy, we plan appropriately so that areas which will see major development and population growth in the future, such as north Dublin, will be properly served by public transport. I am confident that this decision and the new capital plan will deliver on these objectives.
