Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to address this important question on transport in Dublin. I welcome a debate on how best to use the increased levels of investment this Government is making available to support the development of improved public transport. I am sometimes fearful that we do not seem to be learning from the lessons of the past. By that I mean - I believe the Deputy would agree with me - that we need to move away from transport projects by press release and instead move towards a planned and integrated development of public transport and land use strategies. That is why the Oireachtas voted to create the NTA in 2008. Importantly, and I know the Deputy will agree with me, the legislation gave it a much-needed statutory power to develop a transport strategy for the greater Dublin area and that this strategy must be integrated within land use planning strategies across the greater Dublin area, GDA.

We now have a statutory transport strategy in the greater Dublin area which covers the period 2016 to 2035 and which must be reviewed every six years. That strategy is the basis for the development of an integrated transport system for the GDA. Development of the strategy was subject to a full public consultation period and any and all interested parties were able to make their views known. Following that public consultation, the approved strategy set out an ambitious range of improvements across the area of metro and light rail. These improvements include: the development of a metro from the city centre to north County Dublin; the development of a metro from the city centre to south County Dublin along the Luas green line; the need to improve the capacity of the green line in advance of its upgrade to metro standard; and a number of Luas extensions to Lucan, Finglas, Bray and Poolbeg. What we are now trying to do is to implement that strategy. That is why I secured the funding allocations under Project Ireland 2040 to allow for its implementation over the next ten years. The need for the development of a north-south metro has been recognised for 20 years or more.

The Deputy will recall how A Platform for Change, published in 2000 by the then Dublin Transport Office, called it the spine of any future metro system. The need to upgrade the Luas green line to metro over the medium to long term was recognised then as it is today. We are providing longer trams and purchasing more trams under the green line capacity enhancement project but, ultimately, that only buys us time; it does not solve the problem. In the long term, the upgrade to metro standard is necessary to ensure growth along that corridor can be accommodated.

I have not yet formally received the council's motion, as proposed by the Deputy's council colleague last Monday. From media reports and the information the Deputy has provided today, it would appear to be an entirely new set of projects, both Luas and metro, rather than an extension of the MetroLink. I am clear that we need to implement the transport strategy in a planned and co-ordinated manner, and I am also sure that new projects and programmes can and should be considered as part of the review of the strategy in the next couple of years, which obviously includes what the Deputy has just suggested. We are planning to transform the greater Dublin area's transport network in line with the strategy, whether MetroLink, BusConnects or DART expansion, and we need to work together to ensure this transformation takes place in a timely fashion.

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