TRANSPORT MINISTER EAMON Ryan has said that there is an “utmost commitment” to deliver the Metrolink project, saying that the plan will benefit both Dublin city and the rest of the country.
It comes as the MetroLink project was relaunched this morning following Cabinet approval of the plan, with planning set to be lodged with An Bord Pleanála in September.
Under the plan, construction is being forecasted to begin in early 2025, with services hoped to begin in the early 2030s. The metro line itself will stretch from Swords to city centre Dublin.
Speaking at the relaunch of the project this morning, Ryan said that the previous plans were scrapped due to the financial crash in 2011 and 2012 and the constraints on borrowing.
He added that with the detailed consultations, including 8,000 submissions from the public, that have been carried out in recent years for the project guarantee that it will take place.
“That in my mind is the gracious guarantee we can give here but this will proceed because we have done the work in terms of incredible detail in length TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) and NTA (National Transport Association primarily and our department with utmost seriousness, with utmost commitment to get this delivered,” said Ryan.
“I think want to give the public some reassurance around that the reason it’s come back is because it makes transport sense for our city.”
Ryan said that additional certainty is also provided through the National Development Plan (NDP), which will allocate €35 billion for public transport initiatives between 2021 and 2030.
“That’s what gives me certainty is we have the funding, we’ve done the engineering and policy analysis. We have to get through planning and then we go to get it built.”
When asked if MetroLink could be shelved by the Government due to the impacts of a global recession as a cost cutting measure, Minister for Public Expenditure Michael McGrath said that the funding was there behind the NDP and that it would be followed through regardless of any economic shock.
“That commitment is there that’s baked into our fiscal framework, and to the extent that we can be confident about anything I believe we can be confident that the resources are there to stand behind our national development plan,” said McGrath.
Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe agreed with both McGrath and Ryan, saying that if planning permission is granted for the metro line, it will then be built.
“We are at a point in which I think we can make the case that if this project does see a successful Railway Order being granted for it, that we will then see it move to procurement and be built.”
MetroLink cost
Cost estimates were also provided on the construction of Metrolink, with the central forecasted cost being €9.5 billion.
This includes a base cost of €5.8 billion, a contingency allowance of €1.74 billion and inflation allowance of €1.96 billion.
However, there are several scales of estimated cost, reaching between €7.16 billion and €12.25 billion.
However, speaking on Newstalk this morning, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said that there was an extreme case which could cost up to €23 billion.
“There is an extreme-case scenario in the documents where it could cost up to 23 billion – nobody thinks that’s going to happen, by the way – but that’s the kind of extreme end of things,” said Varadkar,
McGrath said that the final cost of the project will not be known until the Government goes to the market.
“The real test is when you go to the market. So when you go to the market and you have a recruitment process and you receive your tenders, that is the most firm estimate of the likely cost that you will have.”
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