Joint Committee on Transport - Meeting of the Committee with TII on Wednesday 27 May 2026

Joint Committee on Transport
Meeting of the Committee with TII on Wednesday 27 May 2026
Subject: All Areas under TII Remit
Lorcan O’Connor, Chief Executive, Opening Statement

Introduction

Chair, Deputies and Senators, thank you for the opportunity to appear before the Committee today. I am joined by my colleagues, Geraldine Fitzpatrick, Head of Roads and Greenways Capital Programme, Pat Maher, Director of Network Management and Suzanne Meade, Senior Engineer, Roads and Tunnel Safety.
Given that we were before this Committee relatively recently, I know you are familiar with TII and therefore propose to only provide a very brief update on some of our activities. An appendix to this opening statement provides more details on our national road's projects.

1.0 Capital Delivery

Delivering new infrastructure is one of TII’s key areas of responsibility.

Roads

Currently, there are three major National Road projects under construction: the N5 Ballaghaderreen to Scramoge, the N21 Adare Bypass and the M28 Cork to Ringaskiddy. These construction projects are on schedule, and the Adare bypass is due for completion by July 2027, which demonstrates what can be achieved through innovation and interagency collaboration.

The N2 Slane bypass was granted planning approval by An Coimisiún Pleanála in July 2025 but is currently in a judicial review process. Galway City Ring Road was approved by An Coimisiún in April 2026 and is currently in the standstill period for the approval until mid-June. The Donegal TEN T planning application was submitted to An Coimisiún and published on 14 May 2026 which is a significant milestone for the delivery of National Road improvements in County Donegal and the Northwest.

Other projects in the pipeline will proceed to gate 1 approval this year including N4 Carrick on Shannon bypass, the N21 Newcastle West bypass and N72 Mallow relief road. In 2026, TII reactivated a significant number of projects following NDP Review 2025.

Light Rail

On the Light Railway side, the Luas Finglas railway order has been granted, and the Luas Cork preferred route has been published and is currently out for public consultation until mid-June.
We are working on the emerging preferred routes for Luas Lucan and Luas Poolbeg and expect to bring Luas Lucan to an initial public consultation later this year with Luas Poolbeg following in early 2027. We look forward to commencing planning on further Luas lines as prioritised by the National Transport Authority and fulfilling the vision of the NTA’s Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy.

Metrolink

On the MetroLink side, the programme achieved a landmark milestone in January 2026 with the receipt of the operational Railway Order, granting full planning approval for the entire scheme.

Following this, MetroLink commenced into full procurement for all major infrastructure packages starting with the launch of the contract notices for the M400 heavy civil engineering packages in February. This was quickly followed by the launch of the M500 contract notice for the Design Build Finance Operate and Maintain (DBFOM) package covering, station fit-out and railway systems, Depot, Rolling Stock and Tunnel and Stations fit-out package at the end of April.

TII recently completed and submitted the revised business case for the project to the National Transport Authority in April as part of the Approval Gate Two process.

Accelerating Infrastructure

TII acknowledges improvements in several areas supported by the work of the Accelerating Infrastructure Taskforce and the Department of Public Expenditure’s Infrastructure Division. We welcome the Government’s Critical Infrastructure Bill, which we consider an important step in supporting the delivery of strategically significant infrastructure.

We acknowledge from recent experience that An Commission Pleanála is achieving its target timelines, and the Courts systems have reduced the delays associated with the Judicial Review process. The measures proposed have the potential to enhance certainty and efficiency in the planning and approvals process, which is critical to meeting the State’s transport, climate, housing, and economic objectives, while improving the effectiveness and efficiency of public participation and judicial supervision. TII is committed to working in collaboration with Government Departments, State agencies and other key stakeholder to assist in delivering on the Government’s strategic infrastructure delivery.

2.0 Operations

Roads

Traffic volumes have increased across the national road network in 2025, with the M50 increasing by an average of 2%. Cumulatively since the end the Covid pandemic, M50 traffic volumes have increased by approximately 10%.

65% of TII’s annual roads budget is allocated to the operation, improvement and maintenance of the National Roads network. This funding is targeted at maintaining the asset value, improving efficiency and safety and supporting connectivity. The level of funding available is challenging. The various programmes are therefore prioritised based on safety surveys and a condition assessment of the network.

Currently, as we approach the 20th anniversary of the completion of the major inter-urban motorway network, funding levels are insufficient to undertake essential lifecycle asset renewals for ageing infrastructure assets and to maintain the asset value of approximately €31bn. Additional funding is required to continue to effectively maintain the network and address the challenges of resilience and climate change.

Light Rail

Luas patronage has grown by about 60% over the past decade and continues to grow. TII expects that Luas will carry about 60 million passengers in 2026, making it the busiest railway in the country. A new timetable was introduced in June 2025 providing much need extra capacity on both Red and Green lines across weekdays and weekends and further timetable enhancements are planned for 2027 to try to cater for increasingly high levels of demand.

In terms of the asset base, TII has been actively strengthening our capability and capacity to deliver a step change in asset investment which is necessary to protect the performance and reliability of the network given that many key assets are now over 20 years old. TII is working with the NTA to agree increased multi-annual funding and to streamline approvals processes for asset renewal works. There are many benefits including reduced costs and improved value for money consequent on evolving to a multi-annual planning and delivery approach for asset management.

The light rail asset base is valued at approximately €2 billion. TII is currently spending about €115 million per annum to provide the services and maintain the network. Ticketing revenues in 2026 will be in the region of €60 million. TII also invests a further €20 million of capital funding on asset investment / asset renewal works. Longer term projections undertaken in 2025 highlight the need for approximately €1.8Bn over twenty years in asset life-cycle investment – which equates to an average investment level of €90 million per annum on asset renewals for fleet and infrastructure.

3.0 The NDP and Investment in Infrastructure

TII looks forward to the future Mid-Term Review of the National Development Plan because it will provide an important opportunity to align infrastructure investment with evolving national priorities, including population growth, regional development, climate objectives, and economic competitiveness. TII looks forward to engaging constructively in that process to help ensure that future investment is targeted, sustainable, and delivers maximum value for the State.
A combination of factors including aging infrastructure, increasing congestion, the need for more transport orientated development, climate adaptation and inflation point to the Mid-Term Review of the National Development Plan requiring important investment decisions to be made for transport infrastructure to meet the above-mentioned national priorities. A key consideration for investment is the need to put operations, maintenance and asset renewal of transport infrastructure on a sustainable funding basis. The motorway network, the light railway network, and the other national primary and secondary roads, needs steady and reasonable investment to be kept in a safe and useable condition.

4.0 Other updates

Greenways

TII acknowledges the level of concern around the delivery of the Greenway programme. TII is actively engaging to address these concerns in conjunction with the Department of Transport. The Department is progressing a review of the Greenway Strategy which will include consultation with stakeholders, including local authorities and interest groups. Separately TII will review the Code of Practice for Greenways. Through this process key areas such as route selection, safety standards, accessibility, environmental stewardship, and user experience will be considered. The objective is to ensure high-quality, consistent delivery across the network, while also facilitating efficient project development and public confidence in greenway projects.

Road Safety

The Road Safety Programme remains a central priority for TII, aligned with the Government’s Road Safety Strategy 2021–2030. We have continued to scale up delivery of low-cost remedial safety schemes, which are a highly effective means of addressing collision risks on the national roads network. Over 210 road safety schemes have been delivered, and we will continue to deliver more schemes as funding is made available, as part of the on-going road safety programme.
These schemes include measures such as improved road markings, enhanced signage, speed management interventions, junction visibility improvements, and traffic calming features. Importantly, these interventions are data-led, with investment targeted at locations with identified collision histories or risk profiles.
Delivery is undertaken in close collaboration with Local Authorities, and the programme is benefiting from streamlined design and approval processes working through TII’s National Roads Offices, enabling more rapid rollout. While small in scale individually, collectively these measures are delivering meaningful reductions in collision risk and supporting safer outcomes for all road users.
The National Safety Camera Strategy was published by the Department of Transport on 29 April 2026. The Strategy confirms TII's central role through participation in the Camera Enforcement Oversight Group and in advancing key elements of the Strategy. In the short term, TII will lead the update of the Safety Camera Handbook and will develop a TII Roadmap for delivering its expanded role in the delivery and management of speed cameras.

Zevi

The Department of Transport have recently published the draft Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy 2026–2028 for consultation. The draft strategy reaffirms the Government’s commitment to expanding and modernising Ireland’s EV charging network. This strategy is a key enabler of our transition to zero-emission transport and supports our national target of having 30% of the private car fleet switched to electric vehicles by 2030.

As Ireland continues to decarbonise its transport sector, demand for EVs is growing steadily. There are approximately a quarter of a million Electric Vehicles in Ireland. In the last year alone, EVs grew by over 63,000 and there is a notable uptick in EV penetration in parallel with recent global events and the impact on the fuels industry.

With the recent transition of ZEVI into TII, we are continuing to expand the infrastructure delivery phase of the strategy with plans across the National Road Network and at Regional and Local destinations and neighbourhoods. The transition reflects confidence in TII’s ability to delivery complex national programmes and strengthens TII’s role in supporting Ireland’s climate transition.

5.0 Conclusion

TII’s priority is around accelerating delivery of new infrastructure and the protection of our existing assets which are so important to both the economy and society.

TII remains committed to working collaboratively with this Committee, the Department of Transport, the National Transport Authority, Local Authorities, and all key stakeholders to ensure effective and timely delivery across all our programmes.

Thank you Chair. We welcome any questions from the Committee.