Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein)
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I welcome the fact that the Luas Finglas extension railway order was granted by An Coimisiún Pleanála in October 2025. This marks a major milestone in the progress of a project long in the making and long overdue. The project involves extending the existing Broombridge Luas green line to Charlestown, which will add four new stops at St. Helena's, Finglas south, Finglas village, St. Margaret's Road and Charlestown Shopping Centre. All these areas, which the Luas extension is either going through or bordering on, are areas of high population. The extension will also carer for a 350 space car park-and-ride facility near the M50. The addition of this extra 4 km of Luas line will be of enormous benefit of the people and business community of Finglas who had good reason to believe that areas like Finglas were being neglected, marginalised and left behind when it came to such large-scale projects.

It is long past the time that Finglas had a project of such stature, which would vastly improve the quality of life for many residents of Finglas. The new BusConnects routes have given rise to concern among Finglas residents who have complained about the loss of direct bus connections, reduced bus frequencies and longer travel times. If the Luas extension was in place now, it might have mitigated many of these concerns. It will nevertheless improve connectivity and have enormous environmental benefits by taking approximately 440,000 private car journeys off the road along the route annually and extend the transport service to an additional 60,000 or more people. The project could also have been more ambitious and allowed the extension to cross the M50 to continue to the airport. We are past the first hurdle in attaining the railway order. There now follows the procurement process and, finally, the construction phase. We have seen time and again how major projects like this have begun with great fanfare and a proposed timeline for completion only to for the timeline to slip significantly and costs escalate.

The current proposed timeline of 2031 for the completion of the construction of the extension is a problem. I am concerned that even this date is too far into the future and the project will slip further. The people of Finglas need this service and there should be no delay in progressing and completing it as soon as possible. Charlestown in Finglas has a growing population and people are already frustrated with regard to the public transport options or lack thereof.

The proposed date of construction is dependent on receiving the proper funding for the project. At present, the proposed cost of the project is €600 million. Apart from construction costs, there will be a significant cost in terms of land acquisition. A lot of money has already been spent before a sod has even been turned. I am concerned about the money being made available for the project and that it stays within budget.

Concerns have also been raised regarding the quality and design of the planned cycle paths which have been described as substandard and disjointed. There also needs to be a community gain to offset the clear impact the project will have on local communities. This is something that needs to be included in the delivery of the project.

The route of the Luas to Finglas extension was changed in order go round pitches at Farnham Drive and those used by Erin's Isle GAA Club and Rivermount Football Club. These clubs have to be facilitated and an all-weather pitch must be constructed to cater for the needs of the clubs and community.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Ellis for raising this issue. The extension of the Luas line to Finglas is something everyone can get behind. It is great to hear it has support right across the board. In fairness, the decision was made in October 2025, when the sanction was given for the project. It is a bit early to say that we are delaying anything. I genuinely feel that there is an urgency about delivering this.

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. The National Transport Authority, NTA, has statutory responsibility for transport planning in the greater Dublin area. The Luas Finglas project is one of four proposed Luas tram network extensions identified in the NTA transport strategy for the greater Dublin area 2022-2042, approved by the Minister for Transport and published in January 2023. The most advanced of the Luas schemes in this transport strategy is the Luas Finglas extension.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, submitted a planning application to An Coimisiún Pleanála in November 2024 for this project. Thankfully, An Coimisiún Pleanála granted the Luas Finglas railway order in October 2025. The project involves a 3.9 km extension to the Dublin Luas tram network from Broombridge to Finglas. The route will serve an estimated population of 56,000 by 2035, at four new tram stops for communities in the Finglas area: St. Helena’s; Finglas Village; St Margaret’s Road; and Charlestown. The Luas Finglas project will facilitate a number of medium to longer-term opportunities for transport orientated development, TOD, identified at sites in Broombridge, Dunsink, Jamestown and Charlestown, with an estimated capacity for over 10,000 new residential dwellings.

The project will also serve people beyond those communities through interchanges with the bus network and rail services at Broombridge train station, which is on the planned DART+ west line. In addition, the project provides for a 350 vehicle park and ride facility at St. Margaret’s Road stop, close to the M50 and M2 interchange. In the transport strategy, Luas Finglas is identified as a medium-term proposal in the strategy, scheduled for delivery within the 2031-2036 timeframe.

The Government fully understand the merits of the project. As a result, it is one of a number of projects that have been highlighted by the Minister for Transport for possible acceleration as part of the review of the national development Ppan, NDP, which was completed by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation in July this year. The review of the NDP has confirmed the Department of Transport’s annual capital allocations from 2026 to 2030. The Department is currently reviewing key programmes and projects in the transport sector, including Luas, in the context of that capital funding envelope and a decision on a programme of delivery within the available funding will be made shortly. A related sectoral plan for transport is expected to be published in the coming weeks and this will include a clear indication on plans for Luas Finglas, which I look forward to.

The Deputy can see the NDP identifies accelerating the extension of the Luas to Finglas. That is very much welcome. As I said, An Coimisiún Pleanála made a decision last month. It is a project we can start getting excited about. I understand the concerns because we have been here before with many transport projects which have been delayed for various reasons. If the community wants it and the political will is there, I do not see why it cannot be delivered at pace.

Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State. There is an urgency in moving ahead. There are major plans to develop the area. Finglas village will be redeveloped. Charlestown will be affected. A large number of apartments are being built across the area and the population is growing. I have dealt with metro north, in terms of the number of meetings I went to and the commitments that were made and broken, one after another - I must have attended 100 meetings over the years. I have attended a number of meetings in regard to the Luas. It bugged me when I saw a reference to potential completion by 2031. It does not sound like the project will be completed by 2031. I wish it was done earlier. I am afraid things will slip and the project will be dragged out.

The community gain is important. People have conceded a lot of space. The football pitches in Farnham will be affected, namely Erin's Isle and Rivermount. We need some community gain as a result. I spoke to the NTA about providing an all-weather pitch. If it is taking some pitches and part of the park it needs to reciprocate. That is important. The Government said this is a priority and it is in the NDP, which is fine, but it needs to move fast. We cannot sit back, which has happened before, while timeline after timeline disappears. I urge the Minister of State to push for the project because it is badly needed.

Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South-West, Fianna Fail)
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In the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, we have a Minister who has highlighted the project as being one he considers as meriting acceleration. My reply states that it is one of the projects highlighted by the Minister for Transport for possible acceleration as part of the review of the NDP which was completed recently. It has clearly been identified as something that can be brought forward, possibly ahead of the usual timelines for the delivery of projects such as this.

As I said, something like a Luas extension is far less controversial and easier for communities to buy into than other forms of transport. We have seen issues with BusConnects. Metrolink has not been smooth sailing. The extension of a Luas has many benefits and is something everyone can get behind.

I take the point of the Deputy on various playing pitches and the opportunity to see benefits. In the grand scheme of the cost of a project like this, an all-weather pitch is probably a small price to pay. I am not sure how that would work out in the long term. It is something the Minister will have to consider. It is all good.

Deputy Byrne has tabled a Topical issue which seeks something similar to this. What the Deputy is looking for is probably far more realistic and can be delivered within a short period of time. Many areas would love to have the type of timelines we are talking about. We talk about large projects and how quickly they can be delivered. I think we will all be alive to see this project delivered.