National Development Plan
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-07
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Jack Chambers (FF), Dublin West

I will not tell the Deputy again about how I am responsible for setting the overall capital allocations, as outlined in the reply in front of me. I will proceed instead to address the question itself, which is about NSO No. 4. This objective is about investing in high-quality sustainable transport and mobility to improve quality of life for all our citizens, support our transition to a low-carbon society and enhance our economic competitiveness.
The Department of Transport published the national investment framework for transport in Ireland, NIFTI, in 2021, which sets out the prioritisation for future investment in the land transport network. The right transport investment helps to deliver high-quality travel and supports positive outcomes for society, the environment and the economy. Investment in NSO No. 4 projects set out in Project Ireland 2040 include the DART+ programme, which is a series of projects that will create a full metropolitan area DART+ network for Dublin, with all the lines linked and connected.
An Coimisiún Pleanála has approved the railway order application for DART+ Coastal North. The procurement process has commenced for a design and build contractors. Once the contractors have been appointed, a period of detailed design will commence followed by construction. Since the previous NDP, there has been significant progress on MetroLink, including most recently the positive planning decision by An Coimisiún Pleanála, as well as the NDP’s allocation of €2 billion from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund to ensure MetroLink moves forward to construction within the lifetime of this NDP.
BusConnects is an investment programme designed to fundamentally transform the bus systems in our major cities, so that journeys for passengers by bus will be fast, reliable, punctual, convenient and affordable. There are 12 bus corridor applications for Dublin and construction on the first of these routes from Liffey Valley to the city centre has commenced with a completion date of 2028. The National Transport Authority is in the process of developing cycling plans for each county under the CycleConnects plan. Further details of projects and programmes being delivered under NSO 4 are with an estimated cost of greater than €20 million are published on the investment tracker.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-07