{"id":655888,"date":"2026-08-25T15:50:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/655888\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T15:50:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:50:17","slug":"e530m-already-spent-on-metrolink-project-but-no-final-budget-in-place-minister-confirms-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/655888\/","title":{"rendered":"\u20ac530m already spent on MetroLink project but no final budget in place, Minister confirms \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minister for Transport Darragh O\u2019Brien needs to set out a final budget for the planned MetroLink<\/a> rail line in Dublin<\/a>, Sinn F\u00e9in has said after new figures show about \u20ac530 million has already been spent on the project.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in<\/a> TD for Wicklow and chairman of the D\u00e1il Public Accounts Committee, John Brady, said at the weekend that more than half a billion euro had already been spent on the project with about \u20ac50 million paid out in July alone, \u201cyet there is still no finalised budget\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cHow does this approach make any sense?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpending now and determining the budget later seems entirely the wrong way to approach a mega project of this scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an answer to a parliamentary question, the Minister told Brady it was \u201ctoo early in the project life-cycle to give a precise capital cost or budget for MetroLink\u201d. <\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThis is because the project has yet to go through the detailed procurement stage. The preliminary business case showed how the project benefits exceed the project costs. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost estimates for MetroLink are currently under review by the National Transport Authority as part of preparation for approval gate two of the [Government\u2019s] infrastructure guidelines and will ultimately be finalised once tenders have been received, in advance of the Government\u2019s decision at approval gate three.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien said he understood that \u20ac530 million had been spent on MetroLink to the end of June 2026.<\/p>\n

The Minister said that construction of MetroLink was earmarked to commence over the coming years with a view to operation in the 2030s.<\/p>\n

Brady said while there was great public appetite for the project to finally be delivered, the public deserved to know exactly how much the project would cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith every day that passes, the project is absorbing more and more public money without a clear overall cost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am asking the Minister directly, what is the budget for this project and when will a final figure be established? Taxpayers deserve certainty, accountability and proper financial controls before costs run out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Irish Times reported in July that by the end of the year, spending on MetroLink could reach almost \u20ac750 million, before any construction on the project commences. <\/p>\n

This would include the cost of purchasing a site in O\u2019Connell Street which had previously been earmarked by UK property group Hammerson as part of a large-scale shopping centre development.<\/p>\n

Hammerson said in July it had sold assets, valued at \u00a369 million (\u20ac80.7 million), including multiple holdings in central Dublin which had been bought by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), the State transport developer. TII confirmed it had bought more than 2.5 acres from Hammerson, encompassing almost all of the western side of Upper O\u2019Connell Street, including the former Carlton cinema site.<\/p>\n

TII would not reveal the total cost of the purchase, but said it had acquired the site to \u201csupport MetroLink construction works and future development planning\u201d.<\/p>\n

Michael Flynn, interim programme director for MetroLink, told an Oireachtas committee in July that more than \u20ac525 million had been spent on MetroLink to date and another \u20ac200.5 million in expenditure was forecast by the end of the year. A \u201cfurther ramp-up\u201d in spending was expected in 2027 \u201cas MetroLink will be on site next year\u201d with the main construction following from 2028, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minister for Transport Darragh O\u2019Brien needs to set out a final budget for the planned MetroLink rail line…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,52,18,19,17,4852],"class_list":["post-655888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-dublin","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-metrolink"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117156946070795822","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}