Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)

That point is a very good one. TII has built up excellent expertise and knowledge in delivery of those projects. Expansion of the Luas network needs to be looked at in the round and that is being done. Deputy McAuliffe mentioned MetroLink and we expect that to come out of planning with a final decision - not a draft decision - in the month of July. That would be a transformational project for the north Dublin area from the airport right into the city through Ballymun, and indeed beyond. The challenge and opportunity for the Government and everyone in the House is that many of these projects are now coming through planning, including DART+ South West, DART+ West + and DART+ Coastal North. All of those projects will be coming through. Moreover, BusConnects will start this year. Twelve projects have come through An Bord Pleanála. Four or five of them are unencumbered by judicial review. I have two tenders back in already. We expect to award a contract on the first one, which will see construction on the first BusConnects corridor happening this year. That is what the public wants to see. It wants to see investment in public transport infrastructure - bus, rail, Luas and metro.

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