Written answers

Thursday, 19 October 2017

Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport

Light Rail Projects

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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217. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport when the NTA will complete the business case appraisal for the revised metro north; and if funding for the project will be contingent on the cost benefit and wider economic benefit ratios contained in the plan. [44393/17]

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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218. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will publish the business case appraisal for the revised metro north including unredacted estimates of the cost benefit ratios for the project. [44394/17]

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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219. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the planned capacity of the revised metro north in terms of passenger per hour per direction and maximum future scalability; and if, due to the revision of the platform length, the revised metro project will only be able to handle capacities (details supplied). [44395/17]

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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227. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if local authorities are now taking into consideration benefits from the metro north when determining development levies; and if not, when he anticipates they will begin to do this. [44403/17]

Photo of Robert TroyRobert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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228. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the amount of the €140 million prior expenditure that has been lost from the revision of the design of the metro north project. [44404/17]

Photo of Shane RossShane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 217 to 219, inclusive, 227 and 228 together.

The Capital Plan, Building on Recovery: Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2016-2021, was published in September 2015 and set out the Government’s budgetary framework for public capital investment in Ireland over the period 2016-2021. The Capital plan confirmed a €9.6 billion capital envelope for transport over seven years and that provided funding to progress for the construction of a metro link between the City Centre, Dublin Airport and Swords that will commence in 2021.Following the mid-term review of the Capital Plan, Government’s recently announced allocation of additional capital expenditure in Estimates 2018 and a 4-year capital envelope over the period 2018-2021 confirms further progress of Metro North by the National Transport Authority; construction work on this project will start in 2021, with passenger services starting in 2027.  The 10-year capital plan to be published in the coming months will include the funding for the period to complete this significant addition to public transport. As required by the Public Spending Code, the NTA in due course will also progress the relevant appraisal processes and value for money tests before Exchequer resources are finally committed. 

In relation to the planned capacity of the new Metro North scheme, the 2015 Final/North Dublin Study, which recommended new Metro North as the optimum transport solution on the Swords/Airport/City Centre corridor, identified that the scheme “has significant capacity to allow for potential future growth”.  It is noted also that the Central Statistics Office’s results from the 2016 census align with the population growth projections used in the Final/North Dublin Study. 

The design and planning work being undertaken at present on the new Metro North project, will continue to use the most up-to-date information available on population and employment projections to ensure that the final design and service pattern is correctly calibrated to fully meet the transport needs of the corridor. 

I am advised that there is no active development levy scheme currently in place for new Metro North at this time. 

Of the previous expenditure incurred on the original Metro North scheme, it is anticipated that a significant proportion of this investment will be of value in the finalisation of the new Metro North project; however, the extent of that will only be determined when the current option analysis and selection work have been progressed.

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