Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 123: To ask the Minister for Transport if he is satisfied that Transport 21 can and will be delivered on time and within cost; the areas least likely to meet these targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33169/07]

Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)
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I am satisfied with progress to date on Transport 21. To date, twenty one national roads schemes have been completed since the commencement of Transport 21 in January 2006. Many of the schemes were completed ahead of schedule and on or under budget. The opening of the Dundalk to Newry scheme, in August of this year, represents the completion of the M1 motorway, the first of the five inter-urban motorways identified for completion under Transport 21. The remaining four are on schedule for completion in 2010.

In the public transport area, the new Dublin Docklands station was opened in March of this year, 3 months ahead of schedule. With the introduction of 67 new rail carriages earlier this year, Iarnród Éireann is now operating hourly, clockface services on the Dublin — Cork rail route, as provided for under Transport 21. Construction work has begun on a number of other projects and planning, design and public consultation is continuing on many more.

There is no indication that the projects and programmes identified in Transport 21 will not be delivered within the ten-year timeframe and within the overall financial framework. Notwithstanding this excellent progress, it has been necessary to revise the indicative completion dates for some projects. The huge scale of the Transport 21 programme is such that adjustments to the timescale for individual projects is inevitable. The value of the ten-year financial framework is that it gives us the flexibility to deal with this in an effective way. My Department will continue to work with all of the implementing agencies to ensure that projects are delivered in the shortest possible timeframe.