Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Again, I agree with the Deputy. In terms of making sure that people get to their destination on time, the new carriages are key but the other key project, particularly for Deputy Durkan's constituents, is DART+, which cannot come quick enough. That project is very ambitious and involves a tripling of the carrying capacity of the DART network, an expansion of that network and a switch to battery-electric trains, as well as the existing electric system that the DART runs on. That is currently in planning and, like a lot of our transport projects, we have been waiting a long time for a decision on it. However, I expect a lot of these projects to start to come out of the planning process in the coming months. We are going to start to see An Bord Pleanála issuing judgments. Some may be delayed, some may not get full planning permission and some may be subject to further judicial review but the scale of transport projects that we have coming is beyond compare in the history of the State. The scale of investment we need to make is also beyond compare but it is the right investment because it is the only way we can guarantee the fast, regular and reliable journey times that Deputy Durkan's constituents rightly demand.

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