Joe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Ryan, I thank the Senator for the opportunity to address this issue in the House today.

As the House is aware, the Government is committed to a fundamental change in the nature of transport in Ireland. Part of that change is about investing in major public transport infrastructure projects such as MetroLink in Dublin. Investing in public transport benefits citizens through making it easier to travel to where they want to go. It benefits the environment through providing low carbon alternatives to the private car. It also benefits the economy through reducing congestion and making it easier for people to access jobs. I would like to think this House recognises those benefits and will work with the Government as we look to make these hugely important improvements to our transport system. Obviously, at local and community levels, there will be varying opinions and impacts about aspects of certain projects. One way of addressing these opinions and impacts is ensuring people have an opportunity to voice them and ensuring our State agencies put in place the type of extensive and inclusive consultation processes like we have seen happen with MetroLink.

MetroLink is a massive project and probably the largest ever seen in the State. It has been through extensive non-statutory public consultation to date.These consultation processes have examined all aspects of the proposal, from the route itself to the type of service, the location of stations and how it links up with the rest of the public transport network. Projects like MetroLink benefit from that type of extensive public consultation. MetroLink certainly has. We have all seen how aspects of the project have changed as consultation periods took place during 2018 and 2019. Those consultations have informed the development of the project's preliminary business case which, in recent weeks, was submitted to the Department of Transport for review under the public spending code. As that review kicks off, work is continuing on developing all the necessary environmental assessments and planning documentation but submission of the preliminary business case is a really important milestone for the project. It means that, following this review, the project can be brought to the Government for approval to enter the statutory planning system. If approved by the Government, that statutory planning system will ensure that citizens have another chance to make their views known.

With regard to the specific location at Albert College Park, as the Senator is aware, the extensive planning, design and consultation on MetroLink has concluded that it is not an appropriate location for a station. I am informed that this decision is based on the proposed stations at Griffith Park and Collins Avenue. I am also told that, if a station was proposed for Albert College Park, considerably more land would be required than is required for the proposed ventilation shaft at the location, which would have knock-on implications for the construction schedule and the ultimate cost. However, I can confirm that Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, has committed to pay for independent expert advice and assistance for those local communities with alternative perspectives to develop their thinking ahead of the planning process. I understand this expert adviser will be available to the communities by June and I very much welcome the assistance being provided to these local communities by TII.