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

I wish to raise a number of issues. First, I have looked up the figure in respect of metro north that was provided by the NTA under a freedom of information request. The figure is €165.6 million in addition to the €83 million that TII has spent. I wanted to put these figures on the record. We are at nearly €250 million. There have been political changes and commitments have changed, but we must at some point take a meaningful look at this entire project from beginning to end and see what lessons we can learn. I am unsure as to how much of the €165.6 million can be carried forward into the project. I am sure that some can, but if there is waste, we will not have learned lessons.

One local authority area in one part of the country - Fingal - doubled its population between 1996 and 2016. We have not undertaken a more recent census. In terms of climate change, it is difficult to see how TII can deliver on some of the transport obligations in a part of the country that is expanding so rapidly.

I am just making a point about the metro project. Some of it predates the establishment of TII-----