Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)

An issue that is particularly important for my constituency of Dublin North West but affects the entire city is the MetroLink. Ireland is one of the richest countries in the EU, but Dublin is the only large western capital city that does not have a metro. The metro was first promised in 2005, some 20 years ago. It was ditched in 2010 by Fine Gael, so we are still waiting for the metro. The expected deadline for delivery is 2035. Dr. Sean Sweeney, who is the project director, says it might not even be delivered by then.

This is one of the core public transport projects that the State and this city need, yet we are not sure if it will even be delivered by 2035. We have to see guaranteed timelines for delivery of the metro. We are now looking at the rail system potentially costing 20% more than its projected budget of €9.5 billion. How much longer will it go on? How many more delays will add more costs? We need to get the metro delivered. It needs to be a priority, and we need to see guarantees in respect of it.

Another area where we see development is the Luas to Finglas, which is very welcome, but I and Róisín Shortall before me put forward a proposal that there would be an extension in that Luas project to Ballymun which would link Finglas, Ballymun and across the city with the airport when the metro is delivered. I ask the Minister again to look at this as a possibility for developing transport in the city to connect our areas properly.

As my colleagues have mentioned, the issue of capacity within public transport in Dublin city is reaching absolute crisis point. The transport system, in terms of buses, trains, the DART and the Luas, is at absolute capacity. Some of the changes we have seen have been beneficial, but others, as previous speakers mentioned, have disconnected some communities. People feel that public transport is not actually serving the public.

Another issue that needs to be addressed is the privatisation of public transport. We see the ongoing expansion of private bus services when we know from the experience in other countries and our own experience that privatisation does not work. We need a properly funded public transport system, with decent conditions for those who work in it. The trade unions that support those workers have made the point that privatisation is bad for both the workers and the public. We need proper investment in our public transport system, which is also a key component in expanding areas in terms of housing, including housing developments outside of our city cores.

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