Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

They must have anticipated that is where Deputy O'Reilly would leave off, given the opening line of my conclusion. As I said earlier, there has been no Government decision to defer the project. With regard to MetroLink, there remains an extensive body of work in finalising the preliminary design, completing the required environmental impact assessment report and closing out project property referencing issues before the railway order application will be ready for submission to An Bord Pleanála. Aspects of this work were impacted by Covid-19 restrictions early in the year and it is likely to be quarter 1 of 2022 before the rail order application will be ready, with submission to An Bord Pleanála expected shortly thereafter. The submission to An Bord Pleanála will be a very significant step, but it is only after the project receives planning permission that we will be best placed to talk of construction start dates.

With regard to the DART+ West railway order application, issues are being raised as part of the current round of public consultation, which will require further consideration by Iarnród Éireann before it will be ready to finalise its railway order application. These project-level issues on the finalisation of the railway order application are, in many ways, separate to the Department review of the preliminary business cases. However, there is a link in the sense that Government approval for both projects will be required in order to allow them to move into the statutory planning system.

On the basis of the current timelines, it would appear likely the Government will consider the matter well in advance of the railway order application being ready for submission. I thank all the Deputies for raising it; the opportunity to address the House on this matter and for the ongoing interest in support of MetroLink and DART+.

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