2026-01-15

95. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Transport the reasons for the delay to certain critical public transport infrastructure projects, despite having all the necessary planning permissions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2819/26]

There is huge demand for proper and reliable public transport. Homes are being built in my area without adequate parking. The idea is for the residents to use public transport but it is simply not there or it is not reliable. I am one of the commuters in my area who would love to get the bus and public transport in here every day but I cannot rely on it. Will the Minister give me the reasons for the delay in certain critical public transport infrastructure despite having all of the necessary planning permission in place?

I thank Deputy Ward. I assure him there are no delays. We published the review of the national development plan and we set out very clearly what projects we are going to deliver. I will go through some of the specifics. I thank Deputy Ward for the question and I thank him for acknowledging the number of homes being built in his constituency. His constituency colleague sometimes does not recognise it but it is good that he does. Deputy Ward has asked a good and valid question. The commitment we have on public transport was evidenced by the national development plan in which we allocated €24.3 billion in Exchequer funding to transport, and this is just from this year to 2030. This means €1 in every €4 in the national development plan review is going into transport. This is an unprecedented level of investment in transport. It is an almost 87% increase when compared to the five-year period under the previous national development plan. It is also a fact that in any funding envelope, no matter how big, decisions are required on sequencing and prioritisation. These are the decisions that come with the responsibility of being in government but we will deliver and we want to deliver these projects. There has been much commentary since the publication of the national development plan about certain projects, and I will use one or two as an example. There has been commentary that they have been allegedly delayed, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. One project referred to in particular is the Luas to Finglas. Let me be very clear that under the last national development plan, and in the greater Dublin area transport strategy, delivery of this project was scheduled to start after 2030. The funding I have secured under the new national development plan will bring the delivery forward into this five-year period. That is one example. It is a major project. The extension of the Luas into that area will serve 56,000 additional homes. Similarly, funding secured under the new national development plan will see construction start before 2030 on the DART+ programme, beginning with DART+ West, which is a crucial enabler for the rest of the programme and particularly DART+ South West, which has also been the subject of some commentary. I will come back with more details in my supplementary reply.

There are another couple of issues that I would like to raise. Major transport projects are at risk of being delayed due to the huge demand already placed on the energy grid, and we have seen reports this week in the newspapers. The Government's support for building more data centres will put more pressure on the energy grid. As we stand, 25% of all electricity in Ireland is consumed by data centres and this could increase to a minimum of 31% under the Government's plan. Putting data centres before the national interest is pure folly. Let us get all the other infrastructure in place first. The Minister mentioned the MetroLink expansion, the expansion of the DART, the Luas services and Luas to Finglas. There was also meant to be a Lucan Luas since 2000 and it has not been delivered yet. Dublin Bus, for example, has nine depots across Dublin and only two of these have the capacity to charge electric buses. A lack of electricity in the grid is going to seriously delay this much-needed transport. I would like to know how the Minister is going to address these, in particular some of the things he mentioned earlier, especially the extension of the DART and the Luas.

To complement the national development plan, NDP, which we have published and in which we have detailed the projects, we have also published the capital investment plan for our grid, known as PR 6 or price review 6. That is up to €18.9 billion of investment in our grid between now and 2030. That takes into account all the major projects we are delivering. It also takes into account the new 300,000 homes we need to deliver and the need to further expand energy generation and distribution to enable further investment in things like data. About 185,000 jobs are supported in the tech sector and we need to continue to be at the cutting edge of new technologies like AI and others and data centres are critical to that. We will be able to manage that. That grid investment is critical. For example, the North-South interconnector project needs to start. It needs to get going. It is the most critical part of energy infrastructure that we need on this island - on an all-Ireland basis. I intend to get that project started this year. It has to happen. Further engagement will be happening in the next couple of weeks on that. I ask politicians of various parties in some of those areas to get on board with this. This piece of infrastructure is critical to deliver the things that Deputy Ward wants and I want.

Speaking of things we want in Dublin Mid-West, I would like to touch on DART+ South West. There was some commentary on that this week. That DART service will bring passengers through Clondalkin, Adamstown and Lucan. It was first granted permission in 2024. Construction was expected to take place this year but has been pushed out to 2030 at the earliest. This project would enable 20,000 passengers to travel each way every hour. That will be absolutely fabulous for the people of Dublin Mid-West if it is delivered. We are in dire need of public transport as the Minister mentioned. I mentioned the 9,000 homes that are being built in the Clonburris strategic development zone, SDZ. This is a project the Minister's colleagues on South Dublin County Council did not support at the time. There was a further 4,000 homes in the Adamstown SDZ being built and this train line was part of that. I do not know if the Minister is in breach of the SDZ at this stage in relation to that. In Dublin Mid-West we are not surprised to see these things delayed. The Lucan Luas was delayed in 2000. The date for this was 2015. This was pushed back and we still have no date for the start. On DART+, the service is going to bring passengers to Clondalkin, Lucan and Adamstown. Will the Minister reverse his decision and bring the necessary funding forward?

We are. DART+ West and DART+ South West are interlinked and are both critical. I want to use this opportunity to set the record straight on this. Deputy Shane Moynihan, a constituency colleague of Deputy Mark Ward's, has been at the forefront in ensuring this project moves forward. DART+ South West must be advanced as it will provide the depot capacity for the new fleet on the south-west line as well. It also provides capacity in the city centre to allow for the DART+ South West services to proceed. On DART+ South West, we are commencing the compulsory purchase order, CPO, processes on that project this year. Aspects of the procurement framework put in place on DART+ West will also be used for DART+ South West. I can assure the Deputy there is no delay on it. That has to be done in advance of the main construction. CPOs and procurement will be done this year and I hope to accelerate that further through NDP funding, which will be made available from 2028 onwards. I agree with Deputy Ward that it is a critical service. We are committed to doing both DART+ West and DART+ South West. They are interlinked and complement each other. There are aspects of both projects that need to be delivered, some of which in DART+ West need to be delivered first to enable DART+ South West, particularly the docklands station and clearing up the bottlenecks in Connolly Station. It is a project we are absolutely committed to and will do.