€200m spent on Dublin Metrolink without substantial building works

The beleaguered project, which would see an underground service running from Charlemont to Swords via Dublin Airport, has been beset by delays, complaints, and judicial reviews

Sun, 01 Mar, 2026 - 15:21

Louise Burne

Over €200m was spent on the long-awaited Dublin Metrolink project in the last two years despite no substantial building works actually starting.

The beleaguered project, which would see an underground service running from Charlemont to Swords via Dublin Airport, has been beset by delays, complaints, and judicial reviews.

In December, a group of 19 residents from Dartmouth Square in Ranelagh were granted permission by the High Court to seek a judicial review of the planning approval for the long-awaited transport project.

The application was withdrawn following mediation, with an agreement put in place to buy up to 15 houses in the area. The Metrolink programme director Seán Sweeney recently told RTÉ that paying over €30m to buy the homes to allow the project to proceed was a “no-brainer”.

While preparatory enabling works have been underway since 2024, substantive building work has yet to start. It is not expected to take place until late 2027 or early 2028. The first phases of the project went to tender in early February.

Annual report findings

New documents prepared for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) by the Department of Transport confirm that over €200m was spent on the project across 2024 and 2025.

The department prepared an “annual report” for Metrolink for PAC, outlining developments and expenditures for 2024.

In 2024, some €65m, including Vat, was spent on the project. Achievements listed included the appointment of Mr Sweeney as the project director and the project progressing through the planning process, with oral hearings and public consultations organised by An Coimisiún Pleanála.

Developments in 2025 included the Government’s commitment to provide €2bn to Metrolink through the National Development Plan between 2026 and 2030.

Hugh Creegan, the interim chief executive of the National Transport Authority (NTA), told PAC in January that it had brought together a “consortium” of groups who are making on an “engineering design team”, noting that up to 1,000 people could be working on the project “at a single time”.

Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly, who is a PAC member, told the Irish Examiner that regular updates about the spending on the Metrolink must be provided.

“With over €200m already spent outside of that allocation without breaking ground, I'd like to see not just periodic but regular expenditure updates for this project. It is critical that full value is realised for the Metrolink allocation over the next four years.”

A MetroLink spokesperson stated that Mr Sweeney previously told an Oireachtas committee that up to 8,000 workers will be required at “peak mobilisation”.

“This figure does not refer solely to direct employees, but reflects the full breadth of specialist expertise required to design, plan, procure, regulate, and prepare a complex metro system for construction,” they added.