Government mixed messages on MetroLink ‘disgusting’ says Sinn Fein TD

Dublin North-West TD Dessie Ellis says he is “disgusted” at the mixed messages the Government were giving out regarding the construction of the Dublin MetroLink.

Last week, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan TD said he was “hopeful” the project would be completed by 2034, instead of 2027.

This was after Government TDs denied reports that the Metro was to be delayed by seven years.

On Tuesday, September 21 Fianna Fail TD Paul McAuliffe said he received confirmation from Tánaiste Leo Varadkar that there was no plan to delay the development.

Deputy Ellis said: “I raised the reports of the delay to the project twice last week in the Dáil in Promised legislation and during topical issues.

“I never got a clear answer from either the Tánaiste or the Minister on either occasion and yesterday’s comments by the Minister for Transport only confirm what I had already suspected.

“This delay will be a social and economic disaster for businesses and communities.

“For housing projects built along the proposed route the selling point for the houses was based on their proximity to these proposed routes.

“This delay also has implications for the environment as the expectation was that Metro North would remove thousands of cars from the roads as commuters would use the public transport system as opposed to private cars to go to work or town etc.

“Communities will now wait years more for a proper transport service and the airport will remain one of the only in Europe without a direct rail link.

“I am disgusted that at this delay and at the mixed messages that the government were giving out over the last week.”

Deputy Ellis also tabled a question in the Dail asking the Government to provide clarity on the situation as it is causing “significant anxiety and confusion across north Dublin.”

In response, Fianna Fail TD Anne Rabbite, who was answering on behalf of the absent Minister Eamon Ryan said the MetroLink and Dart+ West projects will be facing “imminent and important milestones in the coming months.

Minister of State Rabbite said that Government approval and railway order applications “are the fundamentally important ones [milestones] for each of these projects.”

At the time, Minister Rabbite said “there has been no Government decision to defer construction on either project.”

Deputy Ellis said that Minister Rabbite’s response provided no clarity.

“It is very clear from what she is saying, and it appears to me that this is going to be delayed.

“That is totally unacceptable.

“I do not know how many meetings and consultations I have attended on this issue and I am now very sick over the whole thing.”