As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has statutory responsibility for the planning and development of public transport infrastructure in the Greater Dublin Area, which includes DART+ Southwest, the Luas Finglas extension and MetroLink. .
The Review of the National Development Plan published in July 2025 allocated €22.3 billion in Exchequer resources to the transport sector from 2026 to 2030, with an additional allocation of €2 billion from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund to support the development of MetroLink.
This is an unprecedented level of investment in the transport sector and represents an almost 87% increase as compared to the last five-year period under the previous National Development Plan.
The Sectoral Plan provides for the further implementation of the BusConnects Dublin Programme. The major infrastructure element of BusConnects Dublin is the construction of Core Bus Corridors. These will provide An Coimisiún Pleanála approved planning permission for all 12 Core Bus Corridor Schemes. The first of these, the Liffey Valley to City Centre scheme, entered construction in 2025. It is due to be completed in 2028. The second scheme, Ballymun-Finglas to City Centre, was approved by Government in late 2025 and will enter construction in the coming months. These Sectoral Plan will support the construction of these and at least two additional schemes between 2026 and 2030, as well as schemes in Galway and Cork.
In addition, funding provided in the Sectoral Plan will support the ongoing electrification of bus depots and the purchase of further zero emissions electric buses.
In relation to MetroLink, An Coimisiún Pleanála published its decision to grant the MetroLink Railway Order in October 2025. This decision was subsequently subject to legal challenge, which, following successful mediation, has been withdrawn. I warmly welcome the decision to withdraw the legal challenge, as we now have full planning permission and funding in place to move MetroLink towards procurement and construction.
An Coimisiún Pleanála also granted the Railway Order for the Luas Finglas extension, with conditions, in October 2025. Regarding the current status, I can advise that three separate judicial review applications have been submitted on the project and this is under examination.
DART+ South West will extend DART services from the City Centre to Hazelhatch and Celbridge including four-tracking from Park West to Heuston. A Railway Order was approved for DART+ South West by An Coimisiún Pleanála in November 2024. In addition, procurement for DART+ South West and West is progressing with pre-qualification questionnaires (PQQ) notices for Design and Build works advertised in May 2025. Funding secured under this National Development Plan will see construction start before 2030 on the DART+ programme, beginning with DART+ West, which is the crucial enabler of the rest of the programme and particularly of DART+ South West.
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 direct reply. Please contact my private office if you do not receive a reply within 10 working days.
