Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

On behalf of the Minister for Transport, I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to address this issue in the House today.

As the Deputy said, improving public transport services and infrastructure is central to improving citizens' quality of life and achieving our decarbonisation goals. Achieving these goals has been set out in the programme for Government. Progress is being made on a number of proposed light rail projects.

There are four proposed expansions to the Luas network outlined in the current greater Dublin area transport strategy. The most advanced of these schemes is the Luas Finglas project. Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, submitted a planning application to An Bord Pleanála in November 2024 for this project and we await a decision on this matter. In addition, a public consultation on the emerging preferred route for a Luas line in Cork is also currently open.

The National Transport Authority, NTA, has statutory responsibility for transport planning in the greater Dublin area. The development of a Luas line to serve Lucan is currently one of the medium-term projects in the NTA Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy 2022-2042, as approved by the Minister for Transport, for development and delivery within the 2031-36 timeframe. The measure outlined in the greater Dublin area transport strategy is "to develop a light rail line from Lucan to the City Centre, [as the Deputy spoke about], supplementing and complementing the planned bus system, to serve the overall public transport needs in this area".

Transport Infrastructure Ireland is the sponsoring agency for the proposed Luas to Lucan project and the NTA is the day-to-day approving authority. I understand that the NTA recently submitted a project outline document, POD, to the Department of Transport, as is required under the Department of Transport's appraisal framework. The POD noted that Luas Lucan has the potential to reduce transport emissions and encourage the use of public transport along the study corridor while catering for growth and improved customer experience.

The Luas Lucan is an east-west light rail line proposed to enhance connectivity across key areas of Dublin, supporting our economy and population growth and improving the quality of public realm for its residents. The scheme will complement the planned BusConnects Dublin and the DART+ programme to provide a high-quality network of multimodal options in the area out to Lucan. BusConnects core bus corridors to Lucan and Liffey Valley have both received planning permission from An Bord Pleanála.

The Government understands the merits of the proposed Luas to Lucan project. It is one of a number of projects that have been highlighted to the Minister for Transport for acceleration as part of the review of the national development plan, which is planned to take place soon.

Regarding route finalisation for the Luas Lucan project, the route selection and concept development phase of the project continues. A number of end-to-end options have now been selected, with further review of these options through a more detailed multicriteria analysis currently taking place. TII, as the sponsoring agency, plans to finalise the emerging preferred route next year. It will be after this point that TII, with the support of the NTA, will publish the emerging preferred route and options selection report. TII will then hold a non-statutory public consultation.

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