Substantial funding for the underground section of the Dublin light-rail system is now to be included in the National Development Plan. This follows the reversal of a Department of Finance proposal to provide no money for it.
The Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, said yesterday that money would be provided in the plan for putting the Luas system underground in Dublin city centre.
CIE's estimate for the cost of the underground section is understood to be about £160 million. The final sum needed will depend on the length of line going underground and on the results of technical studies.
The decision to provide money for the underground section was made only in the last three weeks, after an initial plan by the Department of Finance to provide no money for it in the National Development Plan for the 2000-2006 period.
A Department of Finance draft Memorandum for Government, dated June 30th, specifically excluded funding for the underground section of Luas. "No provision is included for the underground section of Luas, which will have to await geotechnical studies at the end of the year", the memo said.
It went on: "The Minister [for Finance] has recently written to the Minister for Public Enterprise expressing his concern at the major escalation in the cost of the overall Luas project since it was approved by Government last year."
The Department of Finance plan of three weeks ago proposed funding of £430 million for Luas, but this was explicitly for the surface routes only. These are Tallaght to Connolly Station, Sandyford to St Stephen's Green and St Stephen's Green, via Broadstone, to Ballymun and Dublin Airport.
The reversal followed discussions between senior officials at the Departments of Finance and Public Enterprise. The Government now appears to remain committed to its decision of May last year to put Luas underground in the city centre. Businesses in the area had lobbied for this, and the Progressive Democrats had also supported the idea.
Government sources have said that the final cost of the National Development Plan may be even higher than the £33.4 billion proposed in the Department of Finance memo of three weeks ago. Intensive political discussions on the plan will take place in September before it is finalised, sent to Brussels and published by the mid-October deadline.
The Dublin Chamber of Commerce yesterday expressed concern at what it says is the low level of Public Private Partnership projects in the plan.
"The chamber regards the provision of £1.65 billion for PPPs - less than 5 per cent of the total spend - as disappointing, given the level of funding available from the private sector and the need for substantial investment in infrastructure, estimated to be almost £50 billion over the next seven years", it said in a statement.