Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 December 2021
12. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Transport when his attention was drawn to the delays to the MetroLink project from the National Transport Authority and Transport Infrastructure Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [62296/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am aware of media reports regarding internal documents from the MetroLink project team released under Freedom of Information.
And I can obviously appreciate the intense frustration among lots of people with regard to the timing of MetroLink’s delivery. An awful lot of the discussion around delays relates to graphics used back in 2019 which set out an indicative timeline, premised on a Railway Order application to An Bord Pleanála in Q2 2020. That Railway Order application has still not happened and there should not be any surprise that timelines premised on it happening are therefore out of date. That issue has been in the public domain since Q2 2020.
There are three determining factors at this point to MetroLink’s progress –
1. Government approval of the Preliminary Business Case under Decision Gate 1 of the Public Spending Code;
2. The completion of all necessary documentation by Transport Infrastructure Ireland to allow it make the Railway Order application to An Bord Pleanála; and
3. The Railway Order process itself and the time it might take.
My attention, and the attention of my Department, has been constantly focused on the first of these factors – securing Government approval of the Preliminary Business case. This is the issue where Ministerial attention is focused as without that Government approval the project cannot proceed.
I understand that a revised draft of the Preliminary Business Case is expected to be submitted very shortly to the Department for review in line with the Public Spending Code. Minister Ryan expects to seek Government approval for MetroLink during Q1 2022, if approved by Government then the project can proceed to the planning system
At a project level, work is continuing to finalise all the necessary documentation needed for a Railway Order application and should be completed by Q2 2022. At that point Transport Infrastructure Ireland will be able to lodge its Railway Order application.
These are the key dates and milestones for MetroLink right now.
