Mr. Michael Nolan:

I thank the Chairman and the members of the committee for the invitation to attend today. I am appearing alongside my colleague Mr. Peter Walsh, director of capital programmes.

While the invitation identifies the MetroLink project and the impact of construction on recreational amenities as the matter for discussion, I would like to take the opportunity to set out the purpose, nature and extent of the non-statutory public consultation process which is currently under way.

Over the last year, TII, in partnership with the NTA, has identified an emerging preferred route, EPR, for the MetroLink project. The EPR was identified as the route option which performs among the best in terms of public transport demand, integration with the wider public transport system and economic return. Both the NTA and TII recognise that it is important to involve the public, businesses, residents, local authorities, political representatives and all other key stakeholders in the development of the MetroLink project. We have commenced a major public consultation concerning the emerging preferred route for the project. This emerging preferred route is the proposal identified as being the optimum route for the project, subject to the outcome of the public consultation process. This consultation process will allow us to take on board the views and inputs of the various parties and key stakeholders who participate and enable us to identify and consider concerns and issues that emerge.

On 22 March, TII and the NTA jointly announced the publication of the emerging preferred route for MetroLink. Notices were placed in the national press advertising the public consultation events. A scheme website was established where interested parties could access detailed information concerning the analysis leading to the recommendation of the emerging preferred route and register their interest in the scheme. The launch also marked the formal commencement of a non-statutory public consultation. Public consultation events were held between the 22 March 2018 and 18 April 2018 at locations along the emerging preferred route, with over 3,000 people attending the events.

I will now address the impact of construction on recreational amenities. MetroLink is a huge engineering project, both in national and international terms. Constructing such a large scheme in a built-up urban area is not possible without impacting people, businesses and property. We have strived to minimise the impacts in the planning work done to date, and we will seek to further mitigate these impacts as the project develops.

At some locations, the MetroLink proposal impacts on recreational amenities. These include the grounds of Na Fianna and the grounds of Home Farm FC, which are located on St. Mobhi Road, where a metro station is intended to be located and where a tunnel construction site is proposed. It is difficult to find locations for tunnel stations and for construction sites in a built-up urban area which do not have an impact. Such construction sites are inevitably located in open spaces. In these specific instances, the choice was between directly impacting on homes and local businesses or locating temporary construction sites and future stations in open spaces.

We are very aware of the concerns that these clubs have about the published proposals and of the importance of their facilities both to the clubs themselves and to the wider community. There has been constructive and respectful engagement on these issues between ourselves and officials of the two clubs, and we sincerely thank the clubs for that. Both NTA and TII are committed to working collaboratively with both organisations, subsequent to the conclusion of the current public consultation process, to address the issues raised and to find mitigating solutions that will ensure both clubs can continue to serve the needs of their members and fulfil the important and valuable roles they play in their local communities.

It is important that we preserve the integrity of the public consultation process currently under way and allow that process to proceed to a conclusion. This will ensure that we identify and address all of the relevant concerns and issues in a holistic way. Our goal is to provide a greater benefit from public transport investment for the entire community while endeavouring to reduce the impacts to the extent possible. For that reason, we have committed to discussing possible proposals to ameliorate the MetroLink impacts on the clubs’ operation within weeks of the conclusion of the public consultation process. We recognise the need to respect the ongoing public consultation process and allow it to reach its conclusion. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to discuss possible alternative proposals here today. I trust that the committee members will understand this position.

I note that the emerging preferred route will impact on residential and commercial properties. As part of the public consultation and in parallel with the public consultation events, we engaged and continue to engage extensively with the affected parties on a daily basis. Meetings have been taking place with land and property owners directly affected by the proposed MetroLink stations and alignment and their representatives.

The current public consultation will conclude on 11 May 2018, following which TII will review the emerging preferred route in light of its input. The preferred route may incorporate findings from these consultations where these point to opportunities for improvement, while preserving the benefits and objectives of the scheme. It is intended that an application for a railway order, which is the statutory planning consent procedure, will be made by TII to An Bord Pleanála by the end of next year. The approval of the scheme is a matter for An Bord Pleanála. If planning consent is granted, it is expected that construction will commence in 2021 and that project will be completed in 2027. We are working to an ambitious programme for the delivery of this transformational element of the capital’s transport infrastructure. We look forward to the support of the committee.