Capital investment plan will make life better for all

29 September 2015

by Cllr Joe Costello

The announcement of a huge €27 billion capital investment plan by Brendan Howlin, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, today is most welcome.  It will provide substantial benefits for the residents of Dublin Central. 

 

  • The Luas Cross City line to Broombridge will continue to be funded and will be completed by 2017. 
  • The redevelopment of Grangegorman as a third-level campus for the DIT accommodating 24,000 students is on track.
  • The Metro North project linking the City Centre with the Airport and Swords is being taken out of its wraps.  The Metro will travel underground to Griffith Avenue, with stations at O’Connell Street, the Rotunda, the Mater Hospital and Drumcondra, and with a journey time of 19 minutes from the City Centre to the Airport. 
  • The Phoenix Park rail tunnel linking Heuston Station to Connolly Station will reopen under this plan.  It is crucial that a station be established at Cross Guns Bridge, Phibsborough to serve that community.
  • The National Monument at 14-17 Moore Street is being acquired to facilitate the development of a commemorative centre, which will enhance and complement the interpretive facility already being developed at the GPO to mark the 1916 Centenary.
  • A museum will be established at No. 14 Henrietta Street, Dublin 1, to explore and experience tenement life in Georgian Dublin as part of the centenary commemoration.
  • Four Primary Care Centres are being constructed in Dublin Central to take the pressure off hospital A&Es and to bring the treatment of patients back into the community. 
  • There is €1 billion being put aside to deal with the threat of flooding in Dublin and throughout the country.
  • Further substantial investment in health, housing, justice and education infrastructure are most welcome.

 

This new sustainable investment plan will give a major stimulus to the economy.  It will create tens of thousands of jobs.  It has a particular focus on the Northside of Dublin, and it will contribute to making life better for all.