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Unread 10-11-2011, 12:38   #1
Mark Gleeson
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Default DART underground and Metro North Finally Hit The Buffers

Worst kept secret in Dublin over the last 2 years.

Metro North cancelled
DART underground cancelled

Luas BxD to go ahead
Some reference to Rail Safety Program but as usual no detail
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Unread 10-11-2011, 12:45   #2
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So is the route the one below? Given that the Grangegorman campus isn't going ahead, the usefulness of the line should be questioned.
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Unread 10-11-2011, 12:52   #3
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DIT campus is not going ahead either
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Unread 10-11-2011, 13:53   #4
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Plus M3 Parkway - Navan North indefinitely deferred according to radio report just heard (this admittedly was predictable but now it's no longer hearsay and is confirmed in black and white).
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Unread 10-11-2011, 15:04   #5
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I'm fine with D going ahead - having another depot adds more stabling/dispatching flexibility with respect to A/C. The security required to build and operate the depot might cut down the messing at IE Broombridge too.
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Unread 10-11-2011, 15:09   #6
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WRC ditto.

In the end, after all the "consultation" and consideration, it boiled down to whcih project had the smallest cheque.

On any consideration, Luas BDX comes third in terms of benifts to the city the country and the economy, and with DIT not going ahead either, it actually should be dumped (if you follow government logic).

Incidentally, today also calls into doubt the location of the national childrens hospital, as it was supposed to be served by a metro north stop.
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Unread 10-11-2011, 15:10   #7
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Speech by Minister Howlin – Infrastructure & Capital Investment 2012-16 http://per.gov.ie/2011/11/10/speech-...tment-2012-16/

'Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012-16' http://per.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads...t-2012-161.pdf

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Originally Posted by dowlingm View Post
The security
It need to be an actual security presence - any presence creates passive surveillance that will reduce anti-social behaviour from someone saying "Oi! Stop that." to someone phoning the Garda to the ne'erdowells thinking "If I try something there I'll get caught". It also deprives them of a safe(!) place.
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Unread 10-11-2011, 15:34   #8
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Is the line speed improvments project funded under this plan?
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Unread 10-11-2011, 15:51   #9
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We don't know since the sheet of paper we have is so vague as to be probably better used to build a paper airplane, that at least has a chance of going some distance
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Unread 10-11-2011, 16:28   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Colm Moore View Post
It need to be an actual security presence - any presence creates passive surveillance that will reduce anti-social behaviour from someone saying "Oi! Stop that." to someone phoning the Garda to the ne'erdowells thinking "If I try something there I'll get caught". It also deprives them of a safe(!) place.
Citadis trams cost a bit more than TVMs so one would hope it would be taken seriously. Hopefully the LUAS-suburban interface at Broombridge will add some footfall for passenger eyes-on-the-street too.

As for DIT I see they are still proposing to proceed if they can get private money to build initial phases at a slower rate:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking45.html

Sounds pretty much how UL got things done in the bad old days... trouble is the NUI colleges don't think putting the hand out for cash is grubby these days so DIT has a much more crowded field of competing institutions for a shrinking pool of rich Americans.
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Unread 10-11-2011, 18:51   #11
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http://www.merrionstreet.ie/index.ph...ojects/?cat=12
Quote:
Published on Thursday 10th November 2011
Minister Varadkar confirms deferral of major road and rail projects

* Luas BXD to commence in 2015 – Metro North & Dart Underground deferred
* Concentration on maintaining existing roads, railways and replacement of rolling stock & buses
* Road projects generally suspended but very limited number will proceed
* Ongoing tourism investment & sports capital programmes

Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport Leo Varadkar has today (Thursday) confirmed that investment in transport infrastructure will be scaled back significantly over the next five years in order to allow the Government to meet its commitments in health and education, restore our economic sovereignty, and keep taxes down.

The Minister confirmed that the main construction work will start on Luas BXD in 2015, while there will be ongoing investment in smarter travel projects, and two rounds of sports capital funding. There will also be investment in tourism capital including support for a diaspora centre or museum as an iconic tourist attraction.

“The Government is making these cutbacks in order to honour our commitments to the people and to the troika to bring the budget deficit to 3% of the GDP by 2015 so that Ireland’s economic sovereignty can be restored. It will also assist us to honour our commitments to keep income taxes down and maintain basic social welfare rates.

“Overall spending on transport capital will fall by almost 50% from €1.5 billion in 2011 to €0.8 billion in 2016. More than 85% of transport capital will be required to restore and maintain existing roads and railways, and to purchase replacement buses and trains. The priority is therefore to make the best use, and to get maximum value, from existing infrastructure. That is why we are focusing on projects like Luas BXD, smarter travel initiatives, fleet renewal, and safety and maintenance.

“Given that we already have a large number of ‘shovel-ready’ projects which have been suspended until after 2016, there is little point in spending more money on planning new projects.”

Roads

“Resources will be focused on areas which have previously not benefited to the same extent. One bypass at Ballaghadereen will proceed to construction next year, but no other bypasses will be affordable during the programme. The vast majority of road funding will be focused on maintaining and restoring the existing road network. “In terms of road projects funded through a Public Private Partnership, we aim to finalise funding arrangements for the N11 Rathnew/Newlands Cross bundle in the coming year. Other roads PPPs will be pursued where feasible during the course of the plan. Given the significant land acquisition costs involved with the proposed M20, the NRA will be asked to withdraw the project from An Bord Pleanála at this stage and it can be re-activated in the future.

Public Transport

“There will be a rebalancing of investment towards public transport, including renewal of the bus and rail fleets. While there will be no funding for new heavy rail projects, funding will be provided for four new railway stations on existing lines, including two in the west of Ireland. Work will commence on LUAS BXD in 2015, with completion scheduled for 2018. This will link up the existing Luas lines and will provide further connectivity to the suburban rail network, giving Dublin an integrated commuter rail network for the first time. This should have been done years ago, and I’m glad that this new Government can now finish the job.

Tourism

“Priority in tourism will be given to relatively low-cost projects under the Tourism Capital Investment Programme, especially with a focus on outdoor activities. We will focus resources on refreshing existing attractions, along with the development of key new attractions such as a diaspora centre or museum, should a suitable project or partner become available.”

Sport

Minister of State for Tourism & Sport Michael Ring said: ‘We recognise the importance of sport to the development of society. Funding has therefore been set aside for two Sports Capital Programmes and the completion of the Local Authority Swimming Pool Programme, as well as the development of the National Sports Campus in Blanchardstown (Abbotstown) on an incremental basis’.

Smarter Travel

Minister of State for Transport Alan Kelly said: ‘We are for the first time investing more in new public transport projects than new road projects. This, along with our continued investment in sustainable transport projects, shows we are intent on giving people transport options outside of the car. For sustainable transport, we are investing €65 million to incentivise cycling, walking and other forms of public transport. Also capital projects in this area tend to be labour intensive and good for the economy’.

Metro North

“It is regrettable that we cannot proceed with Metro North at this stage. But with funding constrained, and private finance still reluctant to commit funds for very large infrastructure projects, there is no option but to postpone the project.”

Rationale for choosing LUAS BXD

LUAS BXD will create, in an affordable manner, an integrated network for the first time by connecting the existing lines. This project is affordable over a number of years, does not rely on a PPP, and will link up with areas of north Dublin like Grangegorman, Phibsborough and Cabra. There is a strong business case, and the link will exploit the value of investments made to date in Luas. The project will create employment for 800 people per annum, including direct and indirect jobs, during the peak four years of construction. It will create approximately 60 new sustainable jobs to support the on-going operation and maintenance of the extended Luas network.

Metro North & Dart Underground

With funding constrained, and private finance still reluctant to commit funds for large infrastructure projects, Metro North is not affordable and the only option is to postpone the project. However, it will be reviewed again in 2015 in advance of the new capital programme. Dart Underground had already been postponed by the previous government, and will now be reconsidered in 2015. However, elements of the project may proceed if funds allow.

Capital spending 2012-2016
2012 €m 2013 €m 2014 €m 2015 €m 2016 €m Total €m
Roads 890 528 528 493 492 2,931
Public Transport 239 289 285 275 276 1,363
Smarter Travel 17 15 11 11 11 65
Sports 32 21 25 18 16 113
Tourism 22 20 17 10 12 81
Other Programmes 31 27 13 11 11 93
Total 1,231 900 879 818 818 4,646
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Unread 10-11-2011, 19:09   #12
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"funding will be provided for four new railway stations on existing lines, including two in the west of Ireland" - Oranmore and Crusheen?

This is the economic powerhouse that is Crusheen (Garda station, GAA club, school, church not it view): http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=Crushee...3.6 6,,0,1.69
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Unread 10-11-2011, 19:44   #13
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Oranmore, Crusheen, Kishogue and Hansfield are the lucky four...
http://per.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads...nt-2012-16.pdf

Of course calling Hansfield a new station is a bit fscking cheeky...
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Unread 10-11-2011, 20:23   #14
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Anyone notice that construction on the luas link-up will not start until during or after the next election?

hmmmmmm..........
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Unread 10-11-2011, 20:29   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Colm Moore View Post
"funding will be provided for four new railway stations on existing lines, including two in the west of Ireland" - Oranmore and Crusheen?

This is the economic powerhouse that is Crusheen
Here's the (prior) station:
http://eiretrains.com/Photo_Gallery/...yStations.html
http://maps.google.ie/maps?q=Crushee...6,,0,2.58&z=15
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Unread 11-11-2011, 06:57   #16
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Default Before announcement

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakin...#ixzz1dNPrp8xB
Quote:
Govt to confirm postponement of major capital projects

Thursday, November 10, 2011 - 07:13 AM

The Government is set to announce the postponement and cancellation of several large-scale infrastructural projects.

Hundreds of millions of euro for the cross-border Monaghan-to-Derry road is to be put on hold until at least 2016, while projects like Metro North will also be postponed.

The Government will this afternoon announce a new four-year capital spending plan, with announcements expected on projects such as schools, roads, water and sewage facilities around the country.

However, the attention will be on those high-profile projects the Government is postponing.

For example, no major road or rail project is to get funding for the next four years.

That means the Monaghan-to-Derry dual carriageway, to which we were to contribute €500m, will be deferred, while in Dublin, Dart underground and Metro North will effectively be mothballed.

Some school building projects, water and sewage treatment works and some hospital building works are also likely to be at least long fingered.

This year the Government will spend more than €4.5bn on capital projects. Next year alone, that will be cut by €750m.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...307310581.html
Quote:
Projects scrapped by €750m capital cuts to be named

HARRY McGEE, Political Correspondent and CÍAN NIHILL

THE GOVERNMENT will disclose details today of the major infrastructure projects that are to be dropped as a result of a €750 million cut in the 2012 capital budget.

The most high-profile casualty of the cuts will be the flagship Metro North underground system in Dublin. Other major transport projects that will not go ahead are the A5 motorway to Derry (which was a cross-Border initiative) and the Dart underground. There are also question marks over plans to connect the two Luas lines.

Elsewhere, one of the major health projects, the construction of the National Children’s Hospital, may go ahead but with funding raised outside normal exchequer channels. Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin has been exploring the possibility of seeking an upfront payment for the National Lottery licence when it comes up for renewal on January 1st, 2012.

In the past there have been staged payments for the licence. But Mr Howlin has asked to see if it would be possible to require the successful bidder to pay the entire licence fee at the start of the process. A source suggested that could generate somewhere between €400 million to €600 million. The estimated cost for building the new children’s hospital is €650 million.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan confirmed last week the Government would be seeking an adjustment of €3.8 billion in the budget in order to bring the State’s deficit down to 8.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). The target provides for some €2.2 billion in cuts and €1.6 in taxes and revenues.

Meanwhile, Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton has said no decision has been made about cuts to her department’s expenditure in next month’s budget.

Ms Burton was responding to a report in The Irish Times yesterday that her department’s spending would be cut by €700 million.

“Nothing is decided on the budget until everything is decided and there has been no detailed discussion yet in Cabinet in relation to social protection,” she said.

Speaking at the 2011 Annual Social Inclusion Forum in Dublin yesterday, Ms Burton said she was unable to comment on detailed budgetary matters but added that “there have been absolutely no decisions of any kind made yet”.

“All I can say is that the object of this budget will be to produce a balanced budget that will provide a further basis for economic growth and development and in particular get people back to work.”

Although she remained tight-lipped on where the inevitable cutbacks might be achieved within her department, Ms Burton said there was a lot to be learned from Scandinavian countries, where she maintained a greater emphasis was put on access to services rather than cash payments from government departments.

One example that would be looked at in this country was the replacement of back-to-school funding with the direct provision of books and other materials directly through the schools.

She accepted the Government faced a very tough situation because of its commitment to the memorandum of understanding with the EU, ECB and the International Monetary Fund.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar both said separately yesterday that the Government would not tax work unduly in the budget.

Sinn Féin social protection spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh called on Ms Burton not to cut social welfare in the budget.

“The programme for government contains a commitment to protect social welfare rates, but there is a real fear that the Government will introduce cuts by stealth,” he said.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...307310614.html
Quote:
Minister signals fate of Metro North

MARIE O'HALLORAN

CAPITAL INVESTMENT is a “very expensive way to create jobs”, Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar has told the Dáil in a clear signal that the Dublin Metro North project will not go ahead.

Mr Varadkar declined to state directly when asked during Dáil questions about the status of the project. A decision on Metro North will be formally announced today when the funding allocation for all capital projects, including transport, will be published.

Last week the Minister for Finance announced that €750 million would be cut next year from the capital budget. Mr Varadkar said yesterday the primary deficit had to be addressed. They had to choose “between current spending cuts, capital cuts and tax increases”.

Fianna Fáil transport spokesman Timmy Dooley, who raised the issue, highlighted the Government’s commitment to create jobs. “One of the most obvious ways to do that is through State spending and the capacity to employ people through an effective capital programme,” he said.

The Minister said the Government wanted to honour its commitments not to increase taxes on work and not to cut social welfare rates as far as possible. This was the most effective way to maintain demand in the economy. “Capital investment is a very expensive way to create jobs,” he said, adding that probably the best way to sustain employment was to “try to keep wages up and taxes down and that is our priority”.

He also reiterated that the Government had made no decisions about additional tolls on the M50, the Jack Lynch tunnel in Cork and other places.
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Unread 11-11-2011, 07:24   #17
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http://www.railjournal.com/newsflash...ects-1383.html
Quote:
Irish government postpones Dublin rail projects

PLANS for Dublin's first light metro line and a city centre commuter rail link have been shelved under the Irish government's capital spending cutbacks for 2012, which were announced today.

Dart Underground, an 8.6km connection between Dublin's northern and western commuter rail routes will not now be funded until 2015 at the earliest.

Both projects survived a government spending review last August, but this was soon followed by Ireland's Euros 100bn bailout by International Monetary Fund which came with strict conditions for reigning in government spending. The government has wiped Euros 775m off its Euros 4bn capital budget for next year as it seeks to focus depleted resources on "critical infrastructure gaps in areas such as health, education and water services."

The Luas light rail connection between the Red and Green lines, together with the branch from O'Connell Street to Grangegorman and Broombridge have escaped the cull and will continue to be funded by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

Announcing the budget today, prime minister Mr Enda Kenny said: "It is not correct to say that we are abandoning whole transport projects. They are being deferred until the economic situation allows them to proceed. It is worth remembering that some transport projects have been long planned with little progress. Metro North was first agreed by the government 11 years ago yet even during the years of plenty the previous government failed to deliver it. It would be dishonest to continue with the planning of these projects in the knowledge the finance is not available to build them. But they will resume when the country is back on a firm financial footing."
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...307373425.html
Quote:
Howlin cuts reduce next year's capital spending by €755m
STEPHEN COLLINS, Political Editor

THE GOVERNMENT has been accused of destroying thousands of jobs by its deep cuts in the capital investment programme for the next five years.

The capital budget for next year has been cut by €755 million to €3.9 billion. A total of €17 billion has been allocated for the period 2012 and 2016.

The cuts were announced yesterday by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin who also announced that the plan to link the Luas lines in Dublin would go ahead as would the new national children’s hospital.

Among the major projects which have been deferred indefinitely are:

* Metro North and Metro West

* The underground Dart

* Thornton Hall Prison

* The new DIT campus at Grangegorman in Dublin

* The Western Rail Corridor

At least €250 million has been spent on projects that have been deferred or abandoned. Metro North is estimated to have already cost €150 million; Thornton Hall €40 million; Dart Underground €35 million; Metro West €18 million; Luas Lucan €4 million and the M20 €2.5 million.

The cuts announced yesterday follow major reductions in planned spending announced by the previous government last November. When the National Development Plan was published in 2007 it envisaged capital spending in 2012 alone would be close to €12 billion. Now the figure for next year is less than €4 billion.

The latest cuts were attacked by the Opposition parties, a number of Labour Party TDs and the Construction Industry Federation (CIF).

Fianna Fáil spokesman on public expenditure Seán Fleming said the cutbacks would represent 9,000 fewer jobs in the economy next year and further job losses would follow.

Sinn Féin Enterprise spokesman Peadar Tóibín estimated that the capital cuts would cost a further 7,500 jobs and said it was proof that the bailout of private bondholders and its associated austerity was the biggest threat to the Irish economy.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan accused the Government of getting it badly wrong by abandoning critical infrastructure projects and said the decisions would hinder recovery.

Tom Parlon, CIF director general, said 26,000 direct construction jobs would be lost next year. “It seems that the Government deemed it less politically risky to abandon these jobs than to look at additional savings in current budgets in which excess and duplication have been highlighted on a huge scale,” he said.

A number of Labour TDs also criticised the cuts. Tommy Broughan said it was a major disappointment to the people of the Dublin region. He said €200 million had been spent on Metro North and that was now “money down the drain”.

The cutbacks were announced at the launch of the medium-term exchequer framework was attended by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, as well as Mr Howlin. All three stressed that “jobs, schools and hospitals” were the Government’s priorities.

Mr Howlin said the construction of the national children’s hospital at the Mater campus in Dublin would begin in 2013 with the construction period “just over two years”.

The Minister said an upfront payment for the National Lottery licence when it comes up for renewal on January 1st next would help pay for the project.

He would bring details of the funding arrangements to Government early in the new year but a source had suggested that somewhere between €400 million to €600 million could be raised. The estimated cost for building the hospital is €650 million.

Mr Howlin said existing planned levels of health capital investment would remain, allowing for the replacement of the Central Mental Hospital and the National Project for Radiation Oncology at St James’s Hospital.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...307372110.html
Quote:
Prison and metro plans put on hold as cutbacks take effect
HARRY McGEE, Political Correspondent

SOME OF the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever planned by the State have been deferred for at least five years as part of budgetary cutbacks announced by the Government yesterday.

The most high-profile casualties of the five-year capital investment programme are the €3 billion-plus Metro North project in Dublin; the €2.5 billion Dart underground rail-link also in the capital; Thornton Hall prison; and the plan to bring all the Dublin Institute of Technology centres to a single location in Grangegorman.

However, a small number of major projects will still begin between now and 2015, including the linking of the two Luas lines in Dublin city, and the €650 million national children’s hospital on the grounds of the Mater hospital.

However, the funding for the children’s hospital will come from non-State sources.

Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin confirmed yesterday that, given that the existing licence to operate the National Lottery expires next month, the Government will consider having the successful bidder for the new licence pay an up-front fee to underwrite the capital costs of the hospital.

The Government announced it had committed to spending €17 billion on capital projects in the five years between 2012 and 2016. Cuts for the first three years total €1.3 billion, or some 12 per cent down on the Government’s own revised estimates published only four months ago. Details of the final two years of the plan have not been included in previous estimates.

Capital expenditure for next year will be €3.93 billion, or €755 million less than provided for in the July estimates, which put the figure at €4.69 billion.

The most dramatic scaling back in capital spending is in transport, which will fall by almost 5 per cent from €1.5 billion in 2011 to €800 million in 2016. Annual capital expenditure in transport was running at an average of €3 billion up to 2009.

The modest scale of the plan compares to the National Development Plan launched by then taoiseach Bertie Ahern in 2007, which envisaged investment of up to €184 billion between 2008 and 2013, over €150 billion of it from the State. It included the €34 billion Transport 21 plan.

This plan’s allocation for transport is 10 times less than that of the 2007 plan. And with more than 85 per cent of its allocation required to maintain existing roads and railways and replace bus and train fleets, the scope for new projects open to Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar is limited.

Along with Metro North and the Dart Underground or interconnector (which would provide an 8km underground rail link between Inchicore and the Docklands, linking up all the rail systems), other longer-term projects such as Metro West, the Luas extension to Lucan and further phases of the Western Rail Corridor have been deferred indefinitely.

On roads, the M20 Atlantic corridor has been postponed with completion of projects already underway such as the N11 Arklow to Rathnew, the N17 between Tuam and Galway, and the Ballaghaderreen bypass on the N5 taking priority.

The only high-profile project getting the go-ahead is the less costly – but logistically problematic – plan to link up the two Luas lines in Dublin, along with a spur line for the system through Broadstone to Broombridge, where it will link up with commuter trains from Maynooth. However, the project is scheduled to begin towards the end of the period and is not expected to be completed for at least seven years.

Some €2 billion will be spent on health over the five years, with priority given to the children’s hospital, the replacement of the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum (with full exchequer funding), and the provision of the national radiation oncology project.
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Unread 11-11-2011, 09:05   #18
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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...307371915.html
Quote:
Pre-election rhetoric meets post-election reality as Coalition slashes capital spend
STEPHEN COLLINS, Political Editor

ANALYSIS: THE MANTRA of the two Government parties during the general election campaign was that job creation would become the overriding priority once they achieved office. “It’s all about jobs,” Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore said over and over again.

The cuts of €755 million announced yesterday to an already trimmed back capital programme are making those pronouncements about jobs look a bit hollow.

It was inevitable that some of the major vanity capital projects of the last government, such as Metro North, would bite the dust in the current economic climate. There is no disguising the fact, though, that cuts in capital spending will inevitably affect jobs.

What is clear from the scale of cuts in the capital programme, and the planned cuts in social welfare to come in the budget, is that the overriding priority of the Government policy is to protect the pay and pensions of the public service.

The size of the cut in the capital programme is widely perceived as a victory for the Labour Party Ministers in the Coalition who, going on the pronouncements of Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, appear anxious to protect the Croke Park agreement at all costs.

It was noticeable at the press conference to announce the cuts that when a journalist asked Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin if cutting capital spending was not the easy part of the budget, Taoiseach Enda Kenny nodded his head. While Howlin refused to accept the proposition, it is clear that from the Labour perspective capital cuts are preferable to current cuts regardless of the consequences for jobs.

Ironically, a queue of Labour backbenchers quickly formed to attack the capital cuts insisted on by their own Ministers.

Dublin North East TD Tommy Broughan was the most trenchant, saying the shelving of the Metro North, the Dart Interconnector and other Dublin transport projects would come as “a major disappointment” to the people of the region. He claimed €200 million had already been spent on Metro North and was now “money down the drain”.

Dublin North TD Brendan Ryan also voiced his disappointment at the Metro decision, as did new TD Patrick Nulty. Clare Labour TD Michael McNamara called on the Government to proceed with planned spending on the rail network in his constituency.

The Opposition was even more critical of the cuts with Fianna Fáil spokesman on public expenditure Seán Fleming saying Ireland could not afford the level of job cuts arising from the cuts in capital investment.

He said the cutbacks would represent 9,000 fewer jobs in the economy next year alone and the job losses would continue in each of the following years as further capital spending cuts kicked in.

“We now find that Ireland will have one of the lowest levels of capital investment in the EU. This will have serious implications for long-term growth,” he said.

Sinn Féin enterprise spokesman Peadar Tóibín estimated the cuts would cost a further 7,500 jobs, while Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said the decisions would hinder recovery by undermining competitiveness and removing a stimulus for sustainable growth.

No Opposition spokesman suggested where the money for the abandoned projects would come from or what alternative cuts should be made instead. That is the luxury of Opposition, which Fine Gael and Labour availed of before the election. The Coalition parties are finding out now that the kind of choices they are faced with in office is making their pre-election rhetoric look foolish.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...307372154.html
Quote:
Costs to State for scrapped metro project to top €150m

OLIVIA KELLY

TRANSPORT: THE DECISION not to proceed with the Metro North rail project as part of the 2012-2016 capital investment programme will cost the State more than €150 million, including compensation to the project bidders.

Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar yesterday confirmed that Dublin’s cross-city Luas line would be the only “big ticket” project to go ahead in the next five years, with the Metro and Dart Underground postponed indefinitely.

The Department of Transport will spend €4,646 million on capital projects over the next five years, a cut of €1,045 million on the National Recovery Plan figures published just one year ago.

The bulk of the money will be spent on road and public transport. However, much of this will be used to upgrade infrastructure, including the replacement of the Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann fleets, and on road maintenance.

More than €150 million has already been spent on planning and preparation for the Metro North and just under €40 million has been spent on the Dart Underground. Mr Varadkar confirmed yesterday that €1 million each would have to be paid out to the two shortlisted bidders to construct the project. The State could also face a legal challenge from the two consortiums Celtic Metro Group and MetroExpress for its decision to cancel the project, he said.

The Luas BXD line, which will run from St Stephen’s Green to the Iarnród Éireann rail station at Broombridge, Cabra, was due to be completed in 2016 but will not now begin construction until 2015 and is due for completion by 2019.

The €270 million, 5.6km line will run from the terminus of the green line at St Stephen’s Green to O’Connell Street, connecting with the red line. It will then run northwest to Grangegorman, where the new DIT campus was to have been located, and on to Phibsboro before terminating at Broombridge station.

Unlike the Metro, Luas BXD does not yet have planning permission from An Bord Pleanála. Money spent already on Metro and Dart Underground was not “entirely wasted” he said as either project might go ahead at some future stage. In future “huge amounts of money” would not be spent planning and designing projects “if we don’t know we can afford to build them”, he said.

The €850 million M20 motorway between Cork and Limerick will not go ahead, although the N11 Rathnew-Arklow/ Newlands Cross link and the Enfield to Edenderry improvement scheme are due to start next year. The Ballaghaderreen bypass in Co Roscommon will go ahead but is the only bypass that will be funded over the next five years.
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Unread 11-11-2011, 10:24   #19
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http://www.dublinchamber.ie/current_...p?article=1754
Quote:
Government Go Ahead to Luas BxD Welcomed
10/11/2011

The Government’s decision to fund investment in the Luas BxD line was strongly endorsed by businesses in the Dublin region as a positive step. While it was only one of the three major transport projects which would create an integrated public transport network, Dublin Chamber welcomed the boost BxD gives to Dublin’s competitiveness as it competes against other international cities for jobs and investment.

The decision was announced today as part of the Government’s “Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012-16: Medium Term Exchequer Framework”.

Gina Quin, Dublin Chamber Chief Executive said, “This investment programme reiterates the importance of having a clear strategy in place to integrate the transport network, so that the public transport deficit facing the Greater Dublin Area can be tackled. Luas BxD will join the north and south side of Dublin city centre in an important way which will improve life for commuters, shoppers and tourists. We are pleased that this important project will be progressed. However, this is based on an overarching condition that it is ‘business as usual for all businesses’ during the enabling works, main construction works and when it is fully operational. Businesses believe that this project will be a significant benefit to the region if proper care is taken during its construction.”

In response to both Metro North and Dart Underground being “deferred, not cancelled”, Ms Quin said “It’s disappointing but we appreciate the fiscal constraints the Government is under. It is significant that the Investment Framework ‘deferred’ rather than cancelled these two projects, which are of national importance for inter- and intra-city transport. The availability of finance has tightened, but the business case for delivering these projects remains.”

In the case of Metro North, the Railway Order (planning permission) was granted and made operational at the end of 2010. As long as major work is commenced, not necessarily complete, by 2020, the project remains viable. Ms Quin said, “The perception of Ireland amongst international financers is shifting; with planning having progressed significantly Government has a pipeline of projects that are ‘shovel ready’ once the economy recovers. It is important that the mistakes of the early 1990s are not repeated, when infrastructure was needed but no plans were in place.”

Ms Quin said, “In the absence of Metro North, buses will remain the ‘workhorse’ of the Dublin region so we welcome the continued upgrade of existing quality bus corridors. In particular, we welcome the emphasis on the Ballymun/Airport/Swords corridor given the decision to not move ahead in the medium term with Metro North.”

Dublin Chamber was also pleased to see that funding will be allocated to the maintenance of the National Road Network. “It is important that the significant upgrade of to the Greater Dublin Area’s road network over the past decade is well-maintained. The proposed upgrading of Newlands Cross will help realise the full potential of recent improvements that have taken place on the N7 and M50. Up to this point there has been a gap, however, Dublin’s commuters and supply network will now be able to reap the benefits of such large investment in our road network.”

“The development of the new National Children’s Hospital is an important step for our healthcare infrastructure,” said Ms Quin. “It is universally accepted within the paediatric healthcare community that the sickest children, requiring access to highly specialist professionals, equipment and facilities, can only be accommodated in one children's hospital. There is also unanimous agreement that the child population and projected healthcare demands of Ireland can support only one national tertiary hospital and there is an urgent need for capital investment in children's healthcare services.”

On the issue of water and waste-water, Ms Quin said, “We are pleased with the Governments pledge to invest €1.6bn in the water system over five years. Water shortages are a major concern for the Dublin city region. There are no quick fixes to meeting Dublin's water needs; however, it is important that past underinvestment is addressed during the life time of this programme. We expected the Government to move quickly on the decision regarding Irish Water so that planning and construction of essential water projects can commence.”

The commitment of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to engage with the private sector to explore through public-private partnerships alternative sources of funding was welcomed by Dublin Chamber, who have long called for greater use of this funding tool by the Department. The Public Private Partnership model can deliver significant value to the Exchequer, according to Dublin Chamber. They said that projects procured under this model are delivered faster and ahead of schedule whilst significant long term responsibility and risks are being passed in a value for money manner across to the private sector. They said that raising private financing in the capital markets is difficult but improving, and that the Department should engage with investors so that they will re-enter the Irish market more quickly.

Ms Quin concluded, “Under a tight Budget, this Government has to focus on job creation, export growth and economic recovery by making the most out of each euro spent. The Government’s approach of focusing on economic output is welcomed by the business community as sound. However, Government must be in a state of readiness to make use of funding when it eventually becomes available, so that investment in Ireland’s infrastructure continues.”
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Unread 11-11-2011, 18:40   #20
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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...307371943.html
Quote:
Opposition parties forecast loss of up to 9,000 jobs
PAUL CULLEN, Political Staff

POLITICAL REACTION: OPPOSITION PARTIES have strongly attacked the Government’s shelving of major infrastructural projects in the capital plan while “disappointment” was the reaction among Labour TDs in Dublin.

Fianna Fáil said the plan would lead to the loss of 9,000 jobs, while Sinn Féin estimated the reduction in employment at 7,500.

Labour backbencher Tommy Broughan said the shelving of the Dart, Metro and other transport projects would come as a major disappointment to Dubliners.

Mr Broughan said the €200 million already spent on the abandoned transport projects was “money down the drain” and warned it was possible companies which qualified for the final stages of the Metro procurement process could sue the Government.

While primary responsibility for “this disaster” lay with the previous Fianna Fáil/Green administration, it was disappointing that Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar and other Ministers had not tried harder to keep the projects alive, he said.

Another Labour TD, Brendan Ryan, said he was disappointed but not surprised at the axing of the Metro North project, which would have created thousands of jobs in his Dublin North constituency.

Mr Ryan welcomed the go-ahead for the national children’s hospital but said the plans must include provision for a future Metro North station.

Labour Dublin Central TD Joe Costello described the decision to axe the Dublin Institute of Technology campus at Grangegorman as extremely disappointing.

“Much of the project is a public-private partnership and the State would not require significant capital to deliver a major project which would have enormous benefits in terms of job creation and education nationally,” he said.

Fianna Fáil’s public expenditure spokesman Seán Fleming said the plan, by making no reference to job creation, completely ignored the most important issue in society.

Sinn Féin enterprise spokesman Peadar Tóibín said capital expenditure cuts were proof that the bailout of private bondholders was the biggest threat to the Irish economy.

Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said that by abandoning critical infrastructure projects the Government “will hinder our recovery”.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking55.html
Quote:
Labour TDs critical of transport cuts
EANNA O CAOLLAI

Labour Party TD Tommy Broughan today criticised the Government's decision to shelve the Metro North and other transport projects, saying the move will come as a "major disappointment" to people living in the Dublin region.

Outlining his reaction to the announcement that several major transport projects will not go ahead as planned, the Dublin North East TD said there was "no doubt" but that the millions already spent on the projects amounted to "money down the drain".

Mr Broughan said the possibility that companies involved in the final stages of the Metro procurement competition might sue for damages "could not be ruled out."

In a highly critical statement, Mr Broughan said it was "disappointing" that Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar and the Government did not try "more vigorously" to keep these transport projects "alive".

He said it was "dreadful" that the planning of Metro North and of the Dart Interconnector by Irish Rail and Dublin City Council "has been discarded and allowed to go to waste". The completion of Metro North would have been a "huge boost" to economic growth and employment in the Dublin/Mid-Leinster region.

"Minister Varadkar told me earlier today that the Dublin projects were not being cancelled but effectively being put on ice. But this response does nothing to dispel the cynical Fianna Fail view that Metro North will not be coming along any decade soon," Mr Broughan said.

"It is noteworthy that Minister Varadkar does not seem to have engaged with any offers from the private sector to continue building Metro North (given a long history of considerable interest in the project from EU and other transport companies and from various financial institutions.) "

He said Mr Varadkar now has "a huge responsibility" to vigorously pursue private funding "to enable further works to proceed on the projects in the lifetime of this Government."

Labour Party Dublin Central TD Joe Costello said it was "extremely disappointing" that the Dublin Institute of Technology Campus project at Grangegorman has been deferred.

"Much of the project is a public private partnership and the State would not require significant capital to deliver a major project which would have enormous benefits in terms of job creation and education nationally," he said.
http://www.thejournal.ie/government-...76605-Nov2011/
Quote:
Government denies €200m spent on Metro North is ‘money down the drain’

THE TÁNAISTE HAS insisted that the Metro North project has not been cancelled and that it will “be back on the table again” when the country’s financial situation improves.

As part of the capital spending announcements yesterday, it was confirmed that the Metro North rail project would be shelved indefinitely as capital spending on transport projects will be cut by half over the next five years.

The project, which it was estimated could cost more than €2.5 billion, was to link the airport to the city centre at St Stephen’s Green on a 15.7 kilometre route.

Already €200 million was spent on preparatory works according to Labour TD Tommy Broughan who said that it was “money down the drain” and warned that the government could be sued by the two companies who qualified for the final stages of the procurement competition.

He went on to describe the decision as “dreadful” and criticised the Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar for not seeking private funding for the project.

The TD for Dublin North East said in a statement: "It is dreadful that the meticulous planning of Metro North by the Railway Procurement Agency and Fingal County Council and of the DART Interconnector by Irish Rail and Dublin City Council has been discarded and allowed to go to waste."

But speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore insisted that the money had not been wasted and the project would be reconsidered when the country’s financial situation had improved.

“When we get out of the financial hole, projects like Metro North will be back on the table again,” he insisted, adding: ”We don’t have the money now.”
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking47.html
Quote:
Transport projects bear brunt of cuts

OLIVIA KELLY

The Metro North and Dart Underground will be scraped, but Dublin’s cross city Luas line will go ahead as part of the 2012-2016 capital investment programme.

The Department of Transport will spend €4.646 billion, on capital projects over the next five years, a cut of €1.045 billion on the National Recovery Plan figures published just one year ago.

The bulk of the money will be spent on roads and public transport. However the majority of this will be used to upgrade existing infrastructure, including the replacement of the Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann fleets, and undertake road maintenance.

Little money will be made available for new road projects.

The €850 million M20 motorway between Cork and Limit will not go ahead, although the the N11 Rathnew/Newlands Cross link and the Enfield to Edenderry improvement scheme are due to start next year. The Ballaghaderreen bypass in County Roscommon will go ahead but is the only bypass which will be funded over the next five years.

Funding will be made available for the completion of the integrated ticketing projected for Dublin transport service and the extension of the Dublin bicycle rental scheme to regional cities.

The Luas BXD line, which will run from St Stephen’s Green to the Iarnród Éireann rail station at Broombridge Cabra is the only major rail project sanctioned for te duration of the capital plan.

The line, which will cost €270 million, will link the existing Red and Green Luas lines for the first time. Construction is not due to begin until 2015 and the line is not expected to be completed until 2018 or 2019.
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