Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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227. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will describe the business case for the DART underground project at this stage; if he will specifically indicate in his reply the net cost to the Exchequer of advancing the project bearing in mind private funding sources, European funding sources, the savings on social welfare assistance and income tax revenue from employment created by the project; the income in fares into the long term; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17072/14]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I have recently instructed the National Transport  Authority (NTA) to make arrangements to update the existing 2010 business case for DART Underground. I made this request as a result of  a  recent High Court Judgement on the DART Underground Railway Order which ruled that the period for serving Notices to Treat for the purpose of compulsory purchase of property under the Order should be 18 months rather than the 7 years set out in the Railway Order.  This  means that a decision on whether  to proceed with DART Underground under the current Railway Order must be made by September 2015.

The 2010 business case is out of date. The NTA will ensure that the new business case is based on the latest data as regards population, transport demand, construction costs etc and meets all the requirements of the revised public sector code for capital projects which was published last year.   I have also asked the NTA to review funding options. As is the case with any major expenditure, the opportunity cost must also be considered. This is the cost of not using the money to do something else such as other transport investments in the Greater Dublin Area and around the country, school building, investment in health care facilities and loss of potential employment, revenue, social welfare savings, etc.

It should be noted that a loan, be it from European bodies such as the European Investment Bank or from domestic or international financial institutions must be repaid by the Exchequer with interest and it is added to government debt . Similarly private funding options in the form of a traditional Public Private Partnership impose significant long-term liabilities on the Exchequer or on users. The Deputy will appreciate this from her interest in other PPP projects such as the Limerick Port Tunnel and the M3 motorway.

I expect to have a detailed report from the NTA later this year and will then consider the options for the project  having regard to the outcome of the business case review, cost and  affordability, possible external funding sources and the outcome of the Governments review of the medium term capital envelope to 2020 which is commencing.

The 2010 business case is available on the NTA website.