Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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77. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if his Department has carried out a study on the environmental benefits of a Dublin-Navan rail line. [34742/20]

Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the issue of a potential extension of the existing Dunboyne/M3 Parkway line to Navan was considered by the National Transport Authority (NTA) during its development of the statutory Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2016 to 2035.

While the analysis conducted at the time of the development of the original Strategyconcluded that the level of travel demand between Navan, Dunshaughlin and various stations to Dublin city centre was insufficient to justify the development of a high-capacity rail link at that time, the Strategyclearly states that the issue of a rail link to Navan should be kept under review, taking into account the scale of new and planned development along the route.

In line with its statutory obligations the NTA has commenced preparatory work on a review of the Transport Strategyand that review will include consideration of a possible future rail service to Navan. The review will include a comprehensive analysis of changes to population projections, development density, employment forecasts and future travel demand patterns since the finalisation of the current Strategy.

The review will be subject to a full public consultation, including the publication of all background reports and feasibility studies and that public consultation will take place next year.