MetroLink ‘recosting’ to be based on older designs, committee hears

A recosting of the MetroLink project will not be completed until early next year and is expected to be based on older designs, an Oireachtas committee was told.

The Oireachtas Transport Committee also heard on Wednesday that the Irish construction sector alone will not be able to provide the roughly 8,000 workers required for the multibillion-euro infrastructure project.

The 18.8km MetroLink rail line, most of which will be underground, is to run from north of Swords, through Dublin Airport, and down to Charlemont in the south of Dublin city centre.

The project is the largest single investment project in the National Development Plan and Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien has previously said he hoped work could begin from 2027, subject to no legal challenges.

He added that an expected “seven or eight-year” development could see the line open and operational by 2034 or 2035.

When it is running, it is envisioned there will be trains every three minutes during peak periods.

There has been significant construction industry inflation and additional requirements that will influence the project, which was estimated to be at 9.5 billion euro excluding VAT, under a preliminary business case three years ago.

Lorcan O’Connor, the chief executive of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), told the committee the MetroLink team is in the process of re-examining the overall cost forecast model.

He said the project is still working towards opening “in the mid 2030s” but warned the cost and timeframe remained an estimate until a contract is signed and agreed with a construction partner.

Mr O’Connor said the line would be capable of transporting up to 20,000 people per hour, per direction and would bring passengers from Dublin Airport to the city centre in just 20 minutes.

TII’s MetroLink programme director Sean Sweeney said a “comprehensive recosting” of the project is under way with a “complete recost” coming out early next year.

However, he warned that that figure would also be based on older plans. He said the actual tender designs would not be completed until December, and waiting until then for a recosting would mean it would not be calculated for a further three to six months.

Mr Sweeney stressed that the project was of an “enormous scale and complexity”, adding that it was “beyond human comprehension” to identify every risk in the pricing.

Following the railway order being approved by An Coimisiun Pleanala in early October, the project is currently in an eight-week period during which a judicial review may be sought.

TII said that window closes on November 24, and it had not been informed of any judicial reviews by the time of the hearing.

However, Mr Sweeney said he had been advised there could be a week-long “lag” between a review being lodged and TII being informed.

He also told the committee that the 8,000 workers needed for the project will require contracts with international firms.

“There are no firms of the scale and the expertise in Ireland to run those major contracts.

“They will bring a proportion of workers in, and they’ll be looking to supplement that with local labour.

“We’ve done extensive Irish workforce analysis. I think the top line is that the Irish construction industry cannot support the construction of this project, and that’s without even factoring in the other major infrastructure projects that are in play at the moment as well.”

Mr Sweeney said the TII was working with the Land Development Agency to examine accommodation options for the workers.

“The logic at the moment is it would add to the housing stock after the project was finished.”

He added that TII could make commitments around occupying properties that would make developments more viable.

Under questioning from Fine Gael TD Grace Boland, the interim chief executive of the National Transport Authority said the indications were that revenues from MetroLink would cover its operating costs.

Asked if its accounts would still be subjected to the Oireachtas, Hugh Creegan added that the “full arrangements have to be worked out”.