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

I thank the Senator on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Eamon Ryan, for the opportunity to address this issue in the House. The DART+ programme will transform rail services in the greater Dublin area. It will double capacity and introduce DART-level all-day services across the network, stretching from Drogheda in the north to Maynooth and Hazelhatch in the west, with improvements also planned on the coastal line. It is important to note that the overall DART+ programme is made up of several projects, each at different stages of development and moving at different speeds.There are five major projects - DART+ west, DART+ south west, DART+ coastal north, DART+ coastal south and DART+ fleet. Of the various projects, DART+ west and DART+ fleet are the most advanced.

There are two key impending milestones. First, there is the Government's approval of the preliminary business case and, second, there is the submission of a railway order application in respect of DART+ west. On the first milestone, I understand the Department of Transport has received a preliminary business case and that the preliminary business case is under review, as required by the public spending code. For major projects such as DART+ the public spending code requires a Government decision and the Minister for Transport expects to bring the matter to the Government for its decision in the fourth quarter. If approved by the Government, that will allow the contracts to be signed in respect of DART+ fleet and will also allow DART+ west move into the statutory planning system, subject to the completion of the necessary planning and environmental documentation. The second impending milestone is the submission of the railway order application. As I mentioned, that application requires the finalisation of an extensive set of documentation, including environmental impact assessment reports. That work is ongoing.

In addition, Iarnród Éireann has been engaging with communities and stakeholders as part of the non-statutory public consultation process to better inform the development of DART+ west. Issues raised during this consultation process need to be fully considered by the company and appropriately addressed. This can take some time to complete. Following the first non-statutory consultation process on the emerging preferred route, Iarnród Éireann used the feedback received from citizens and public representatives to inform the design process for the preferred option, which is currently subject to another round of public consultation. I understand particular issues have been raised as part of this round of public consultation which will require further consideration by Iarnród Éireann before it will be ready to finalise the railway order. I am informed that the public consultation process is continuing to the end of this month. After that, Iarnród Éireann will reflect on the issues raised and consider an appropriate response.

These consultation processes have been held online as, obviously, they have had to adjust to the Covid restrictions imposed upon society over the last 18 months or so. There are those, including the Senator, who say online consultation is no substitute for in-person events. The Senator may well have a point, but the alternative would have been to postpone all progress on the project. I do not believe people were advocating that. However, I will refer the Senator's specific point regarding the inability to interact fully on the online forums to the Minister. Once a railway order application is made there will be further opportunities for citizens, public representatives and stakeholders to make their views known during the statutory planning process.

Projects such as DART+ are transformative because of the change they will introduce to our lives and I assure the Senator that this Government believes in properly and positively communicating that change to citizens and communities. I encourage everyone to participate fully in these consultation processes and in the later railway order process.