Sinn Féin spokesperson for Transport and Communications, John Brady TD, has welcomed the publication today of details of the final report from the All-Island Strategic Rail Review.

Whilst welcoming the report, Teachta Brady cautioned the need to ensure that the hugely ambitious national project does not become another National Children’s Hospital saga, with massive overspends and delays.
 
Teachta Brady said:
 
“There is absolutely no doubt that any expansion of our rail service is welcome. And the scope and ambition of the final report if realised will have the potential to take significant numbers of motorists out of their cars and onto public transport.
 
“However, it is critical that the government are not allowed to revisit the follies and false dawns of previous major announcements and key projects.
 
“We can plumb the depths of media archives to find previous announcements of major transport projects which have yet to be realised – specifically, the Dublin Metro.
 
“The pattern of major announcements, followed by a failure to deliver must not be allowed to repeat itself.
 
“We need to see clear timelines and action plans for the delivery and cost of the individual components of this major infrastructural overhaul.

“The principle of value for money must be placed at the heart of all major state projects. There must be clear oversight over every aspect of the project.
 
“Successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments have failed to deliver value for money for Irish taxpayers in respect of major building and infrastructure projects.
 
“With an estimated cost of between €35bn and €37bn, any increased costs could be enormous.
 
“The saga of the National Children’s Hospital has been going on that long that children who may have been admitted as patients there will soon be old enough to get jobs working there by the time it opens.

“With massive cost increases and overruns, it stands as a cautionary tale which illustrates the failure of the coalition government to manage major projects.
 
“With this major expansion of the rail service, the report claims that an additional 700,000 people will be living within 5km of a rail service.

“Again, this is welcome, but the increase in numbers anticipated to use the expanded service adds weight to the argument for the creation of a dedicated transport unit within An Garda Síochána.
 
“Now is the time to put in place a strategic plan that would see the creation of a Garda transport unit, that would be developed alongside the publication of timelines and action plans that detail the expansion of the public transport system.

“The Irish taxpayer cannot afford to fund further government failure to plan correctly.”