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THE METROLINK PROJECT is set to get a €2 billion boost in funding under the National Development Plan (NDP) – but the full cost of the long-planned underground rail line is not yet known.
The plan, which was announced by the Government this afternoon, sets out what large-scale infrastructure projects Ireland needs over the next five to ten years. It details plans to invest €24.33 billion in transport between next year and 2030.
Of this, €2 billion will come from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund (ICNF). The government said this funding is being allocated to support the development of “low-carbon transportation” projects such as the MetroLink “before 2030″.
According to the plan, the government has decided to fund the proposed Dublin rail link using the ICNF due to the “unique scale” of Metrolink, which it said will allow “the ambitious pipeline of other public transport projects”.
The Metrolink, which is the single biggest public transport project in the history of the State, will have 16 stations running from Swords to Charlemont and is estimated to carry 53 million passengers annually.
The 18.8km route will have an end-to-end journey time of 25 minutes and serve residential areas including Ballymun and Glasnevin, as well as the City Centre and Dublin Airport, and will link to Irish Rail, Luas and bus services.
Speaking this afternoon, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that today’s funding announcement was “a very definitive commitment to the metro”.
He said that while the actual cost of the project will be “very, very substantial”, the coalition is very clear that is has to be built “for the future of the country”.
“If you look at the expansion of Dublin, if you look at it over 20 to 30 year period, there will be continued growth in population in Dublin. I don’t think you could sustain Dublin without a metro,” he said.
In a later press conference, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe indicated that the most recent costing for delivering the Metrolink is around €11 billion.
He said the reason why an exact estimate for the cost of the project cannot be given is that there is now a procurement process due to commence.
“I’m not going to indicate what we believe the final cost will be until the procurement process is complete,” he said, stating that to do so beforehand could influence the value for money aspect of “what it is a very, very big project”.
The point was made to the minister that the public might find it hard to believe that the Metrolink will be delivered when there have been so many promises made about it over the last decade.
Donohoe accepted the point, but added that much of those decisions were influenced by the aftermath of global financial crisis, when capital investments was at a very low level.
“We tried to rebuild it, but it did take time, and we weren’t able to give confidence regarding the money that would be available for projects like the Metrolink,” he said.
“There’s only a very small number of projects that the government has given a particular commitment to and they are mega projects. They’re in water and they’re in transport.
The main project that we are giving a commitment to up front is the mega project of the Metrolink.
An underground rail line for Dublin was first proposed in a government plan in 2005, but was shelved for several years during the recession.
Cabinet approved a refreshed plan for the Metrolink in July 2022, with a planning application submitted to An Bord Pleanála that September.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) lodged a Draft Railway Order seeking permission for the project in 2023 and received 318 submissions in response.
An Bord Pleanála – now called An Coimisiún Pleanála – held oral hearings to facilitate third parties expressing their concerns around the project early last year. During these hearings, further documentation was submitted, which resulted in a second public consultation process being held from August to October last year.
A decision on whether to grant planning permission is now awaited from An Coimisiún Pleanála, with the Irish Times reporting on Saturday that the decision is due before the end of the summer.
It’s now expected that construction may not begin until at least 2028.
In 2021, the Metrolink was estimated to cost between €7 billion and €12 billion. Sean Sweeney, the director of Metrolink, told an Oireachtas committee in May that that estimate “is going to change”.
Speaking to RTÉ News this week, Sweeney said that the full cost of the project will not be clear until 2027 until tenders for the project are received.
Asked today why people should believe the government when some €300 million has already been spent on the project and building has yet to commence, the Taoiseach said this money was spent on “preparation” for the project.
“You just don’t go to a planning commission without substantial investment, ” Micheál Martin said.
He said these are “enormous projects” which demand a lot of allocation in terms of the work that goes into planning, designing the route and preparing a planning application, adding: “So actually, I would take the €300 million as evidence of our commitment to building the Metro.”
Martin was also asked if the projects planned for in the NDP would go ahead if there is an economic slowdown, particularly as a result of US President Donald Trump’s 30% tariff threat.
The Taoiseach said that the international investment community is needed for projects at the scale of the Metrolink.
“They need to realise that we’re going the full distance on the capital, and we will take measures if we have to, obviously, to meet the impacts of tariffs. But we are very clearly signaling that, unlike previous times, we want to protect the capital side of the equation.”
Asked again if the spending would take a hit, he added: “Current spending will be under pressure if such a situation was to emerge.”
Fianna Fáil Senator for Dublin Fingal West Lorraine Clifford Lee said today’s funding commitment of €2 billion is “a statement of intent” from the government for a project that she said is “essential” to meet the needs of a growing population.
She said there has been an explosion in population in north County Dublin, in areas such as Balbriggan, Rush, Lusk and Swords, which infrastructure has not kept up with.
“There’s always a chorus ready to kill a big idea before it starts, but we cannot base national planning on unverified cost fears,” she said.
“Final costs for Metrolink will come through the tendering process, and that’s still to come. Let’s be clear: this is a transformational project, and its long-term value far outweighs the short-term noise.”
€2bn for Metrolink is hardly a vote of confidence that the project will be substantively progressed in this decade.
— Marie Sherlock TD (@marie_sherlock) July 22, 2025
It’s supposed to take 6 years & be operational in early 2030’s.
€2bn is only 8%- 16% of the estimated total cost.#Metrolink
Fine Gael TD for Dublin North West Grace Boland also welcomed the ringfenced funding for the Metrolink, which she said is “essential to get the project off the ground and marks a significant step forward”.
However, Labour’s transport spokesperson Ciarán Ahern said the €2 billion “does not represent the scale or urgency required to deliver the long-awaited rail project for Dublin”.
“Metrolink is supposed to be the country’s flagship public transport project and €2 billion is no small sum, but in the context of the overall cost of the project, it’s nowhere near enough. We’re talking about a fraction of what’s actually required to see this project through,” he said.
Ahern added that it is “long past time that the sod was turned on Metrolink” and called on the government to commit the full funding required for the project.
Sinn Féin’s transport spokesperson Louise O’Hara meanwhile said the fact that the plan made funding commitments to the Metrolink but failed to mention any specific projects in the western and northern region is “deeply disappointing”.
With reporting from Christina Finn
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