James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for attending. This Topical Issue is very straightforward and I hope he will see the practical sense in what I am proposing.

Dublin Port is carrying out a major expansion plan that will meet its future needs. In the context of what is taking place in the world right now, never has investment been so important to ensure we have access to ports for trade. The planning application that is before An Bord Pleanála includes the construction of a new bridge alongside the toll bridge over the Liffey. That bridge is able to facilitate a Luas to go across it. When Dublin Port was bringing its planning application to An Bord Pleanála, it consulted with the NTA to ensure that its application would meet the future needs of public transport in that area.

As the Minister of State will be aware, one of the largest housing projects in Dublin city is under construction in Poolbeg, on the famous glass bottle site, with already 500 homes built there and 3,500 homes to be ultimately constructed. There are also plans for a hotel in the area, which have been put forward by the planning applicant. Potentially, there could be 10,000 people living there. To put that into perspective, the population of Ringsend and Irishtown in 2016 was 10,000, so we are talking about doubling the population in an area that has not had many people living in it. It is essential that we have joined-up thinking when it comes to our housing and that people have the public transport infrastructure they need.

There is a lot of criticism in this country about how we deliver major infrastructural projects, but one project that was delivered on budget and on time was the last major extension of the Luas, the Luas cross city. I ask the Government to consider, in the context of the review of the national development plan, progression of the Luas Poolbeg extension to a planning stage in the lifetime of this Dáil. The Luas to Finglas is already before An Bord Pleanála. The Luas to Lucan is at an option stage. This relatively minor extension is a third Luas extension project which has a lot of merit. It could transform the area, link in the high-frequency bus routes and the DART+ in the area and, most importantly, serve the future transport needs of the more than 10,000 people who will be living in the area. Surely it is common sense that when Dublin Port will be building this bridge, which, assuming planning gets approved in the next month or two, could be within the next two to three years, at the same time that the NTA will be working lock, stock and barrel with this Dublin Port expansion plan, the NTA will be ready to put forward to An Bord Pleanála its application to extend the Luas. We are really talking only about anywhere between 2 km and 4 km, depending on how the route would be done. It would connect the north inner city to the south inner city. The red line would go across the Liffey and we would be developing the kind of integrated transport network for Dublin that we all want to see.

We know that the changes we have made when it comes to transport in Dublin, particularly when it relates to high-frequency bus routes, have been hugely successful. The numbers are through the roof. We know that if we build additional public transport, those numbers will follow. We could have 3,000 people every single hour travelling up and down on the Luas. I ask that this project be given heavy consideration in the context of the upcoming review of the national development plan in the summer.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Geoghegan for raising this very important matter, which I am taking for the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. Deputy Geoghegan has raised this matter before. There is huge merit in what he has proposed, and I commend his contribution because it is about joined-up thinking and ensuring we are ready for the next phase of the area he mentioned.

As the Deputy knows, improving public transport services and infrastructure is central to improving citizens' quality of life and achieving our decarbonisation goals. The achievement of these goals has been set out in the programme for Government. I agree with Deputy Geoghegan's sentiments: this is about planning for the future and about that joined-up thinking approach.

The National Transport Authority has statutory responsibility for transport planning in the greater Dublin area. The development of a Luas red line extension to serve Poolbeg is one of the longer 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 2037-42 timeframe.

It is important to recognise that the proposed Luas extension to Poolbeg is subject to the assessment of forecast travel demand arising out of development patterns in the Poolbeg west strategic development zone and environs. The comments Deputy Geoghegan made about the population increase and the ongoing work there fit into this matter succinctly.

TII is the sponsoring agency for the proposed Luas to Poolbeg project and the NTA is the day-to-day approving authority. I understand that the NTA recently instructed TII to undertake a pre-feasibility analysis of the Luas Poolbeg project. This analysis will include updated demand modelling to assess the initial feasibility of Luas Poolbeg from a passenger demand viewpoint. This is in line with the objective on the Luas Poolbeg project outlined in the greater Dublin area transport strategy. This analysis is expected to be completed in the summer.

I wish to highlight that there are four proposed extensions to the Luas network highlighted in the current greater Dublin area transport strategy. The most advanced of these schemes is the Luas Finglas project. TII submitted a planning application to An Bord Pleanála in November of last year for that project and we await a decision on the matter.

The Government is aware that the opportunities for people to live and work in Poolbeg are likely to increase. Deputy Geoghegan has given us figures in terms of the housing projections of around 10,000 more people living in the area. In a report prepared by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Transport published in 2023, the Poolbeg west strategic development zone was identified as an opportunity for transport-orientated development. It is recognised as an area with the potential to deliver a mixed-use neighbourhood with a significant number of residential dwellings. It is also worth noting that in July of last year Dublin Port submitted a planning application to An Bord Pleanála for the 3FM project. This project is focused on developing additional port capacity on port-owned brownfield lands on the Poolbeg Peninsula. I agree again with Deputy Geoghegan that at this time the issue of the port is important and access to it is critical.

The Department of Transport and the NTA are cognisant that an increased demand for travel from Poolbeg to the city will need to be catered for in the coming years. The transport needs of the area will need to be met in the short, medium and long term. This demand may be catered to by bus, cycling and walking and, depending on the scale and phasing of development, possibly the Luas.

The Government understands the merits of the proposed Luas Poolbeg project. It is one of a number of projects that have been highlighted for possible acceleration as part of the review of the NDP, which is planned for later this year. As previously stated, the NTA has the statutory responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure in the greater Dublin area. The Department will engage with the NTA in considering the needs of new or accelerated potential transport projects in the greater Dublin area as part of the review of the NDP. Any consideration of that capacity in terms of funding will be made in due course. I thank Deputy Geoghegan again for his contribution.

James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for that very welcome response. Before any of the announcements were made by the Trump Administration, the Government had made extremely clear that there would be a commitment to and focus on investment in infrastructure. Understandably, the focus of that additional investment is on housing and water but we must not forget about public transport. It is so essential for developing integrated cities. I say this not just about my own city but also about the Minister of State's city. We must do this right across the country.

One of the benefits of ensuring that we get this to a planning stage is that the contractors building these public transport projects, such as the Luas to Finglas, will know there is a pipeline of delivery into the future. If we are being truthful and honest, we will agree that one of the issues that has arisen in trying to develop additional light rail or even the MetroLink is that we have a history in this country of building major infrastructure projects and then stopping. Admittedly, one of the reasons we stopped after the cross city Luas was the challenging financial circumstances the State faced. There is, however, a change of approach now. This Government is focusing very heavily on capital investment. If there is one thing that is in our control in responding to what is taking place in the world right now, it is investing in infrastructure, housing, water infrastructure and, crucially, public transport to enable people to move around the city and get to work and to reflect the continuing demographic growth in our nation's capital.

I very much welcome that this project has been earmarked for potential acceleration in the context of the national development plan review in July. I will continue to raise it with my constituents. Having an integrated network would not only serve my constituency well; it would serve the whole of Dublin well.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Geoghegan for his contribution and ongoing interest in this very important issue. The Deputy is correct. As a member of Dublin City Council, he championed the 15-minute city concept. I fully subscribe to what he said about capital investment in infrastructure, housing and transport, as does the Government.

On the current developments, the National Transport Authority has instructed Transport Infrastructure Ireland to undertake a pre-feasibility analysis of the Luas to Poolbeg project. This analysis will determine the initial feasibility of the project from a passenger demand viewpoint, as stated in the national development plan. The TII, as the project sponsoring agency, and the NTA, as the day-to-day approving authority, will continue with the appraisal and planning of the Luas to Poolbeg project, while the development of the red line Luas extension to serve Poolbeg is currently one of the long-term proposals in the NTA greater Dublin area transport strategy for the 20-year period 2022 to 2042.

It is recognised that the transport needs of Poolbeg will need to be met in the short, medium and long term. I acknowledge that the population will grow significantly in the coming years, as the Deputy pointed out, and that an increased provision of public transport will be needed for the area. I reiterate that the proposed extension of the Luas to Poolbeg is only one of a number of projects identified in the greater Dublin area transport strategy to significantly improve the combined light rail and heavy rail network by 2042.

I assure Deputy Geoghegan that projects will be progressed in line with the requirements of the infrastructure guidelines. The public consultation processes will be undertaken at appropriate stages as the projects are assigned. I understand fully the merits of the proposed Luas red line to Poolbeg, as does the Government.

The Deputy is right on the issue of stop-start. Next Monday, we will see the unfurling of the Luas in Cork proposals by the Taoiseach, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and me in the Department of Transport. This indicates the importance of the point the Deputy has raised. The Department is very much aware of the needs but also wants to accelerate the provision of transport infrastructure for the future and to work with TII, the NTA and Members of the Oireachtas in that regard.

I thank Deputy Geoghegan for his contribution and look forward to working with him to prioritise this project.