John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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224. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the reason crucial Luas Finglas and DART South-West projects have been delayed in favour of funding roads; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68883/25]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy may be aware, the National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) including, in consultation with Iarnród Éireann, the DART+ programme.

DART+ South West, which is part of the DART+ programme, involves the extension of DART services from the City Centre to Hazelhatch and Celbridge, increasing train capacity from 12 to 23 trains per hour per direction and increasing passenger capacity from the current peak capacity of circa 5,000 to 20,000 passengers per hour per direction. An Coimisiún Pleanála granted planning permission for DART+ South West in November 2024. Procurement for DART+ South West and West is progressing with pre-qualification questionnaires notices for Design and Build works advertised in May 2025. 

In October 2024, the Government gave its consent to the Luas Finglas project at Approval Gate 1 in line with the Infrastructure Guidelines. This has allowed the project to enter the statutory planning process. TII submitted a Railway Order Application to An Coimisiún Pleanála in November 2024. Public submissions closed on 20 January 2025. An Coimisiún Pleanála published its decision to grant the Luas Finglas Railway Order in October 2025. The project will now move toward procurement, assuming there are no successful legal challenges to An Coimisiún Pleanála’s decision. 

As noted in the recent National Development Plan Transport Sectoral Plan for 2026 to 2030, construction is currently scheduled to commence in 2029. However, officials in my Department will keep this under constant review and accelerate project timelines where operating readiness and funding allows.

The Sectoral Plan sees the allocation of €22.3 billion in Exchequer resources to Transport, along with an additional allocation of €2 billion from the country's Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund to support the development of MetroLink.

Of this total allocation, funding of circa €10 billion for public transport infrastructure is earmarked from 2026 to 2030, in addition to the €2 billion for MetroLink, primarily in line with the Department’s NIFTI intervention hierarchy of Maintain, Optimise, Improve, and New. This approach involves prioritising investment in the protection and renewal of existing assets before investing in new ones, on economic and environmental grounds.

This funding will see significant advancements made in a number of public transport projects, including commencing construction on DART+ Programme and Luas Finglas.

The Department of Transport will continue to explore opportunities for additional funding, including through funding streams such as the European Union Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), to compliment national Exchequer funding which may allow some projects to proceed to construction earlier than currently anticipated.   

Noting the NTA's responsibility in the matter, I have referred the Deputy's question to the NTA for a more detailed reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 days.