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

The DART underground, a sizeable investment, is name-checked rather than planned for in the national development plan. If that were put in place, Irish Rail expects it would deliver 100 million passenger journeys annually. That would be a significant return on any investment relative to the number of journeys already taken. Why is the DART underground such a low priority? Does the authority have any input into the prioritisation of projects? I accept it would not be paid for in 12 months but it is certainly the kind of investment from which one would still be getting a return 100 years from now. Given that it has such a return and creates a greater viability for the other investment in rail, I do not understand why it is such a low priority.