Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I will pick up on a point that several of us will probably make. Some of the changes to MetroLink have shown that the organisation has listened to some of the concerns, and it is very welcome that there has been a response to those concerns. I refer in particular to the solutions for the north side of the city. However, in looking at what the transport needs are, the census of population for the past three or four censuses, perhaps, would be a pretty useful way of predicting what will happen into the future. The city centre and Dún Laoghaire, for example, both grew by 13% over those 20 years, South Dublin by 22%, Fingal by well over 40%, Meath and Kildare by over 40% each and Wicklow by just under 30%. We can therefore see where the population shifts are happening. One would only have to take a flight over Dublin to see where the space is and where it will continue to grow, irrespective of the amount of land zoned. As well as looking at what is in a plan, what is not in it is a key component. In the west side of the city, we must look at where the traffic is generated, which is not just in the neighbouring counties, but also in counties adjacent to them in turn. That is really where the commutes are happening and where this needs to impact.

Ms Graham might address how this will be dealt with from the point of view of rail. At the moment there are capacity constraints in respect of heavy rail. Ms Graham will be well aware of those constraints and the length of time it takes to get new rolling stock, so she might address that issue. I will not even go into the issue of DART underground. I will give this meeting a skip on that because it is totally the missing piece in all this.

Ms Graham said in her opening statement:

The plan we published yesterday is to develop the section from Swords to Charlemont with an interchange from Metro to Luas at Charlemont. The required tunnel boring works to allow the future connection to the existing Luas line will be completed as part of this current phase.

This means that it is a predetermined route once the bore is completed. Is there the prospect of any flexibility on this route if this plan is to be proceeded with?

What kind of timeline would be involved with the people in College Gate and the Markievicz sports centre who have to move? I refer to being able to put alternatives in place. How does the NTA go about that?

Predicting where lines will go is one thing. What kind of advance purchase is required for the trams? Regarding the capacity constraints that exist at the moment, is there any issue as to which comes first? I assume the plan is not likely to push out the purchase of much-needed heavy rail, for example, to make sure that the orders go in for the new metro trains.

There is public consultation on this phase of BusConnects. When will the next phases be? I refer to the outer BusConnects routes that were parked. When are we likely to see that coming back and to see consultation on it?