Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 272: To ask the Minister for Transport and the Marine if it is agreed Government policy to provide a LUAS rail system to Knocklyon, Rathfarnham and Ballyboden in Dublin; the action being taken by him to provide such service; and the date for the opening of such service. [19047/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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Transport 21 provides a very large funding commitment for the delivery of an extensive rail based public transport network in the Greater Dublin Area in the period up to 2015. This network is based on the Dublin Transportation Office strategy "A Platform for Change".

Transport 21 includes funding for feasibility studies on those elements of the strategy "A Platform for Change" which are not included in Transport 21 and this includes the proposed Luas line from the city centre to Dundrum via Rathfarnham and Terenure. It was announced, on 30 January last, that the RPA would commence work on the Rathfarnham feasibility study in April. Preliminary work has commenced on this feasibility study and I understand from the RPA that the feasibility study will take a number of months to complete.

While Transport 21 involves a very large commitment of financial resources, those resources are also finite. It has therefore been necessary to prioritise the investments to be made over the ten year period. There is no financial provision in Transport 21 for the construction of a Luas line to serve the Rathfarnham area.