Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

Metro west has not been scrapped. It still exists as a long-term project. The railway reservation will be maintained. It is not appropriate to spend more money on consultants, lawyers and so on if we must repeat the process in 15 years time, given that there is no visibility as to when the project can be funded.

I agree with the Deputy on metro north. It is very good project and would benefit my constituency enormously. I would love to be able to deliver it to my constituents during my term in office but it is the most expensive project by a mile and requires both private and public finances, neither of which are available, apparently, although this may change.

We will not do anything to prevent metro north, the DART underground and the Luas BXD line from going ahead in the future. If it is not possible for all, or any, of those projects to proceed during the term of this Government, we will ensure they get to the end-of-railway-order stage and have planning permission such that they will be shovel-ready when it is possible to proceed. We will protect the reservations to make sure nothing gets built in the way.

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