Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry I missed the start of the meeting. I missed various contributions. Deputy O'Rourke raised MetroLink, which I will start off with. I am sure it is no surprise to the Minister. Under subhead B6, I understand, in response to Deputy O'Rourke earlier on in the meeting, the Minister stated he hopes that the project will be completed between 2028 and 2034, and hopefully not at the latter end of that period. That is probably the most encouraging news we have heard since the now-infamous article in theMail on Sundaya week and a half ago in trying to get it delivered as early as possible. We are at the stage, the article says, where we are hoping to go for a railway order in quarter 1 of 2022. I understand that is still the case. If it goes through that procedure and a railway order is granted, which could take a couple of years, is the Minister expecting a delay between when it is granted and when it can start? Is he expecting a significant delay in that gap in the process or that, if it goes through the railway order process and permission is granted, the State would be in a position to begin MetroLink and get diggers on the ground as soon as is practical after that point?