Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 404: To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the capital and current budget allocations for the Luas BXD extension to Broombridge in 2012; the year end forecast for overspend or underspend in each allocation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22880/12]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Following the establishment of the National Transport Authority (NTA) on 1st December 2009, the provision of infrastructure projects in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), such as LUAS BXD, now comes under the remit of the NTA.

The capital funding provided to the NTA to fulfil its statutory role is allocated in line with the policy objectives and priorities outlined in the various capital development plans as revised from time to time, most recently the Infrastructure & Capital Investment Programme 2012-2016 - Medium Term Exchequer Framework which was published in November 2011. Since BXD is a priority project under this 5-year plan funding has been included in my Department's capital allocation to cover the cost of commencing the main construction works in 2015 and pre-construction enabling works in 2013 and 2014. Construction is expected to take 4 years.

The NTA has been given an overall capital allocation for 2012 of €130.24m. The NTA has since provided a breakdown of their proposals based on this allocation which includes an indicative amount of €8m in respect of Luas BXD for 2012.

However this is a provisional estimate as key decisions and actions which will determine the precise budget requirements and spending profile for BXD must await the outcome of the planning process which is currently ongoing.

My Department has provided no current expenditure in relation to this project.