It has been reported in the media that there are potential delays to both the MetroLink and the DART+ schemes. There is not a lot of clarity around this but there is an awful lot of concern because these two projects are major infrastructure projects that have been promised by successive Governments over very many years. Can the Minister tell me, in regard to the new national development plan, NDP, that he will be bringing forward in the next number of weeks, what is the start and end date of both of those projects under that plan? Have changes been made to those completion dates as per the current NDP and are any delays foreseen for those projects?

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. What I can confirm is that the review of the national development plan is almost complete and will be published before the budget. We now have agreement from Cabinet in regard to the overall financial framework. It is going to be the largest public capital investment programme in the history of the State for transport. It will involve an investment of the order of €35 billion across the decade out to 2030, and the review of the NDP will involve providing an update for some of the critical projects the Deputy has outlined in regard to MetroLink, DART+ and BusConnects. I am working with the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, on that and the published review of the NDP will set out the latest plans in that regard.