Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In fairness to my predecessor in that Department, he made the choice to go ahead with Luas cross-city, the benefits of which will accrue next September and October.

The Deputy has been good enough to acknowledge my role with regard to the metro project and my view on it. The key for me was the delivery of a high-capacity public transport solution for as much of the city as possible. I put in place a process that took almost 12 months. We reviewed everything and worked with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Its officials acknowledged the need for that project and it is back in there. The Deputy asked about the timeline for it and I am sorry I did not reply to that question earlier. I anticipate that the planning, procurement and tendering phase of the project could take between two and four years. However, that is not a reason to defer it or to fail to proceed with it. Projects of that scale take that long to work their way through the system. That will be an important theme in the capital expenditure review, which will commence shortly after the budget.