Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for always being so available to the committee and being so frank and honest in their answers. I appreciate that.

I will following up on the point in relation to the Dublin commuter zone. Obviously, this impacts my own constituency. However, in relation to Newbridge, while the committee received many emails this morning, this campaign has been going on for six years. It was started by the Newbridge Labour Party, with Mark Wall, now a Senator, and it has gathered momentum. We have had the community development campaign, led by Jennifer Caffrey, down there for the past three years. It is greatly needed. People have made decisions or life choices based, in terms of living and moving to Newbridge, on the commuting capabilities and the costs. I could sense Ms Graham's frustration with Irish Rail. I impress upon her that anything she could do to bring this back closer to the September timetable would be greatly appreciated. As I say, there were 8,000 signatures handed over at one stage to the NTA by the group and Ms Graham knows how deeply felt it is in that community.

On MetroLink, we are way behind the intended schedule of 2027. Could the witnesses provide any further details of what has been pre-prepared in advance of what, we hope, will be a favourable decision from An Bord Pleanála? They mentioned lining up pre-tenders, etc. Is there any other detail they could provide in terms of what the NTA has done and can do in its capacity to ensure MetroLink is not delayed any further? We recently had a ministerial intervention in relation to the Dublin city traffic plan which has the capacity to delay that much-needed project in Dublin. Does the NTA have any concerns as a body about that level of ministerial or governmental interference in relation to MetroLink?