Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 February 2026
290. Deputy Ciarán Ahern asked the Minister for Transport his plans to expand dedicated bus lanes across Dublin; the amount of funding earmarked in the National Development Plan Sectoral Investment Plan for Transport for the construction of new bus lanes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16281/26]
View answerAs Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. The National Transport Authority (NTA) has responsibility for the planning and development of public transport in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), which includes BusConnects.
As the Deputy may be aware, BusConnects is a transformative programme of investment in the bus system, with the aim to provide better bus services across five cities. It is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the State and is managed by the NTA.
In Dublin, the major infrastructure element of BusConnects comprises Core Bus Corridors (CBC) schemes. The CBC project involves the development of continuous bus priority infrastructure and improved pedestrian and cycling facilities on key radial corridors across the Dublin region. The CBC project encompasses the delivery of approximately 230 kilometres of dedicated bus lanes and 200 kilometres of cycle tracks in 12 separate schemes across Dublin.
An Coimisiún Pleanála has approved all 12 of the BusConnects Dublin Core Bus Corridor Schemes. However, legal proceedings are ongoing in relation to six: Belfield/Blackrock, Blanchardstown, Kimmage, Swords, Templeogue/Rathfarnham and Bray schemes.
The first scheme, Liffey Valley to the City Centre, entered the construction phase in 2025, and the contract for the second, the Ballymun-Finglas to City Centre scheme, was signed in December 2025. Construction on this scheme is expected to commence in 2026.
The Government published the National Development Plan (NDP) Review in July 2025 and the Department of Transport published the Sectoral Plan for Transport in November that year, which sees the allocation of €22.3 billion in Exchequer resources to the transport sector from 2026 to 2030, 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.
The Sectoral Plan provides for the construction to continue or commence on at least four BusConnects Dublin CBC schemes over the period, including the Liffey Valley and Ballymun-Finglas schemes. The commencement of other schemes will be subject to consideration by the NTA, based on a range of factors including ongoing legal challenges.
