Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thankfully, because of the management of the economy and the fact that we are running budgetary surpluses, we have the opportunity to invest in line with our enormous ambition for capital investment in rail infrastructure and other areas. We are ambitious. We have to do that in a strategic way. The rail review will provide an opportunity for that.

A significant milestone in the MetroLink project was cleared in July 2022 when the Cabinet granted decision gate 1 approval under the public spending code. This enabled it to move to the planning application stage. The statutory planning consultation closed on 16 January and the railway order application was made in September of last year. TII is continuing the work on this. It is preparing the project design planning and procurement strategy for MetroLink for consideration under decision gate 2 of the public spending code. It is also in the process of appointing a client partner to support the efficient and effective delivery of the project. It is currently anticipated that the client partner will be appointed in the near future to provide adequate resources and supports across all phases of the project. This will be significant for the development and progress of the overall project, which I know many people want to see delivered as quickly as possible.

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