Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien has rejected claims that the MetroLink project could cost as much as €23 billion, describing such figures as being “far off the mark” and “too high.”
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this week, the Minister insisted that while a definitive price tag cannot be established ahead of the procurement process, he does not expect the final investment to reach the multi-billion-euro heights recently speculated.
“The last preliminary business case was between €7.16 billion and, I think, €12.25 billion,” Minister O’Brien stated.
While acknowledging that he expects the next assessment to be higher than those initial figures, he was firm in his dismissal of the €23 billion estimate, saying it “wasn’t an estimate that was given to me at all.”
The Minister’s comments come alongside news of a major planning breakthrough. A judicial review application by residents of Dartmouth Square in Ranelagh has been withdrawn following a successful mediation process.
As part of this agreement, approximately ten houses in the Ranelagh area are expected to be purchased. While the Minister declined to speculate on the specific cost of these acquisitions, he assured the public that the expenditure “will be managed, and will be managed carefully.”
“The mediation approach has worked,” O’Brien said, welcoming the development as a “really significant step forward” that leaves the project with “clean planning permission” ready for activation.
With the legal hurdles removed, the government intends to move immediately toward the procurement phase. Key milestones for the project now include 2026, when tendering is expected to take place, and 2027, which will see construction begin “with a fair wind.”
The Minister anticipates a seven-to-eight-year construction timeline.
The Minister confirmed he expects to receive the next formal assessment of projected investment early in the new year.
“I’m not going to speculate,” he added.
“But when I get it, I can assure you that’s something that will be discussed and will be publicised.”
In February 2024, then-Minister Paschal Donohoe addressed the complexities of delivering major state infrastructure like the Metrolink and the National Broadband Plan, claiming that the government has incorporated “clear learnings” from past challenges, such as the National Children’s Hospital, to prevent the same massive cost and timeline overruns seen previously.
He said that for projects of such immense scale and complexity, the state must be “far more careful” about communicating timelines and costs to the public.
He insisted that the majority of infrastructure projects are delivered on time and within budget, and that acknowledging risk when it comes to big projects is essential to building the public’s confidence when it comes to plans like this.