Public Transport
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-20
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Jerry Buttimer (FG), Cork South-Central

I went to college in Maynooth, and Deputy Joe Neville has been on to me, as has Deputy Farrelly in the past, to be fair. Again, on behalf of the Minister for Transport, I thank Deputy Farrelly for raising this matter. This is a very important issue and I am familiar with the Kilcock issue, which Deputy Farrelly has spoken about. I do not have a definitive answer on the public consultation but I will ask officials to liaise with Deputy Farrelly on it.
I will recap the developments in the DART+ South West project. It will provide an extension of DART train services from the city centre to Hazelhatch and Celbridge. Procurement for DART+ South West and DART+ West is progressing, with pre-qualification questionnaires for design and build advertised in May 2025. In addition, the railway order for DART+ South West was approved by An Coimisiún Pleanála in November 2024. As I stated earlier, the national development plan sectoral investment plan for transport, which was published by the Department of Transport in November last year, will enable advancement of various elements of the DART+ programme in the coming years, including DART+ West. This funding will also allow for compulsory purchase orders to progress for DART+ South West this year, and will provide for procurement progress for the project, with some of the framework contracts being established in common for DART+ West and DART+ South West.
As the roll-out of the new DART+ fleet, which has started to undergo safety testing, progresses from 2027 onwards, it will allow the cascade of existing trains to serve new areas of the Irish rail network. The redeployment of this fleet is a matter for Iarnród Éireann and the National Transport Authority to decide on, based on a range of factors. There is potential for some of this fleet to be deployed on the DART+ South West line to add capacity in advance of infrastructure upgrades.
As I said earlier, the Department will also explore any EU funding which may become available to accelerate public transport projects. The public transport offering has transformed the whole Maynooth area since my days in college. Moreover, the NDP will be reviewed around 2028 and updated at that point, and this will also provide an opportunity to examine the potential to provide additional funding. I take Deputy Farrelly's point on the acceleration of projects and he made a good point on the population growth.
To be fair to the Government, there has been significant investment in infrastructure and it reflects well on us. I will take back the point on notification of the public consultation. The acceleration of projects with regard to DART+ South West is a good news story and I thank Deputy Farrelly for raising the matter tonight. I thank the staff for being here this late, and I thank an Cathaoirleach Gníomhach for chairing the House at this late hour of the night. I wish the staff a safe journey home and if they are on public transport, all the better again.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-20