Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I am taking this Adjournment debate on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, whose Department has responsibility for policy and overall funding in respect of public transport.

Following the establishment of the National Transport Authority, NTA, in December 2009, the implementation and development of infrastructure projects in the greater Dublin area, such as phase 2 of the Navan rail line, comes under the remit of the NTA. The Government recently announced a comprehensive review of capital spending, which is now under way. The review will examine capital proposals across all sectors of the economy to establish a set of priority projects and programmes that will support economic recovery and provide new employment opportunities. The results will form the basis of a new national development plan, NDP.

The preparation of the new framework requires that the Department review all existing projects and programmes. As part of the review process, all agencies funded by the Department have been requested to make submissions supporting their programmes and setting priorities in a scenario of reduced allocations. Submissions have recently been received from the NTA, the Railway Procurement Agency, RPA, and Iarnród Éireann regarding public transport projects. These submissions are being examined by officials and will inform the Department's conclusions on the capital review.

Fundamentally, the review will need to take account of new funding realities. A major priority will be to ensure funding to protect and maintain investment made to date and to maintain high safety standards. This will of necessity restrict the funding for new projects with only those offering the highest return having any prospect of being prioritised. A clear decision on the development of the Navan rail line will be made in the context of the new NDP, which is expected to be published by September. Until such time as this decision is taken, it would be premature to comment further on the future development of the Navan rail line.

I would like to comment on phase 1 of the line from Clonsilla to Dunboyne, which opened in March 2010. This line, with half hourly services and a large park and ride facility at Pace, offers commuters a viable alternative to the private car. Substantial progress has recently been made regarding the opening of the station at Hansfield and it is now expected that the station will open in early 2012.