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Project 2040 is our plan for the future of Ireland and will support the achievement of more balanced development of Dublin. Highlights include:

  • Metro Link: a high capacity, high-frequency cross-city rail corridor serving key destinations such as Swords, Dublin Airport, Dublin City University, Ballymun, the Mater Hospital and existing destinations along the Luas Green Line to Sandyford. Offering interchange with other rail, DART Expansion, light rail and bus services. (Est. cost €3bn, Est. completion date 2027)
  • DART Expansion: creating a full metropolitan area DART network for Dublin with all of the lines linked and connected. The next step will be to provide fast, high-frequency electrified services to Drogheda on the Northern Line, Celbridge/Hazelhatch on the Kildare Line, Maynooth and M3 Parkway on the Maynooth/Sligo Line. It will also include new stations to provide interchange with bus, LUAS and Metro networks (Est. cost €2bn, Est. completion date 2027).
  • Park and Ride Programme: The development of strategic park and ride sites plus investment in parking facilities at rail, Luas and bus connections e.g. Swords, Finglas, Dunboyne, Liffey Valley, Naas Rd, Carrickmines, Woodbrook.
  • Luas Green Line Capacity Enhancement: lengthening of the 26 existing Green line trams from 43 metres to 55 metres and the purchase of a further 8 new 55 metre-long trams.
  • BusConnects Dublin: Dublin BusConnects (Est. cost €2bn, Est. completion date 2027) will deliver a transformational redesign of the bus system in Dublin. This entails a transition to low emission buses (including electric buses), a network of “next generation” bus corridors (including segregated cycling facilities) on the busiest bus routes;  a complete redesign of the bus network; simpler fare structures;  cashless payment system; a state-of-the-art ticketing system;  park & ride facilities; new bus stops & shelters.
  • Second runway for Dublin Airport: A €320m investment scheduled for completion by 2021 to enhance connectivity for the island of Ireland and underpin Dublin Airport as a premier European airport and key gateway to North America and the rest of the world.
  • Dublin Port infrastructural investment: The €230m Alexandra Basin project is the most significant redevelopment of the port’s infrastructure in over a century and involves significant restructuring to quays and berths etc. to facilitate larger vessels. The works will also involve the deepening of the approach to the port.
  • Phase 2 of the National Indoor Arena: Covered pitches and ancillary facilities, for rugby, football and Gaelic games. Construction underway at National Sports Campus, Blanchardstown.
  • National Cultural Institutions: A major programme of investment over the next 10 years including the National Library, National Gallery, National Archives, National Museum, National Concert Hall, Abbey Theatre, Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Chester Beatty Library.
  • Health: New National Children’s hospital at the St James’ campus and 2 urgent care centres at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown and at Tallaght Hospital. New National Maternity Hospital in the grounds of St Vincent’s Hospital in south Dublin. Dublin included in the National Programme for Radiation Oncology. Redevelopment of the National Rehabilitation Hospital. Acute Hospital developments including Tallaght Renal Dialysis and Intensive Care Units; Beaumont ED and Cystic Fibrosis unit; Coombe theatre upgrades; Mater Dublin clinical laboratory replacement; Connolly Dublin clinical laboratories and Central Sterile Services Department.
  • An Garda Síochána: Completion of Garda Divisional Headquarters in Kevin Street (Dublin), and provision of a replacement office for the Harcourt Square complex in Dublin.
  • Water: Upgrade and expansion of the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment plant; a greater Dublin Drainage Project and a North Docklands Sewerage Scheme

Fine Gael is a party of aspiration, a party of enterprise, a party of opportunity, and a party of hope. These are our values and they guide our ambition for this country.

We want to give hope to individuals and families, reward work and enterprise, encourage aspiration, and remove barriers to progress. We want the Republic that we founded to provide opportunities for all our people.

We believe a greater work-life balance and work-place flexibility must be better supported, particularly in the early years.

That is why we have brought forward measures such as Paternity Benefit. Since its introduction 8,430 fathers in Dublin have been awarded this payment.

We have also brought forward measures to make childcare more affordable such as full entitlement to a full two years of the free preschool programme and a universal childcare subsidy of up to €1,040 per year for children aged from 6 to 36 months.

Balanced regional development is at the heart of our planning. We will ensure that rural communities not only survive but thrive. We have appointed a Minister for Rural and Community Development and in early 2017 we launched the Action Plan for Rural Development.

€352,000 is being invested in Dublin to rejuvenate the town and villages in the county in 2017 and €6,370,438 is being spent between 2014 and 2020 through the LEADER Programme.

Also, €3,288,889 has been spent on Regional and Local Roads while a further €844,036 was spent on National Roads in Dublin in 2017.

Life expectancy is increasing as is the average and median age. We believe that this is an opportunity for Ireland that should be embraced.

In March 2017 we increased the State Pension again, benefitting 141,724 pensioners in Dublin. Budget 2018 increased the State Pension by €5 per week, making a total increase of €13 per week over the last 3 Fine Gael budgets, and proportional increases for qualified adults and those on reduced rates of payment.

We will bolster the success created by Irish workers and enterprises by ensuring that all get fair reward for their efforts and for the risks they take.

Significant progress has been made already; we cut the USC again, increased the entry point for the higher rate of tax, increased the Earned Income Tax Credit, extended entitlement to the Treatment Benefit Scheme and increased the national minimum wage for the fourth time.

Our culture, heritage, language and sport define us as a people. They bring us together, are central to good physical and mental health, and give us great pride.

The Sports Capital Programme has transformed the sporting landscape of Dublin with improvements in the quality and quantity of sporting facilities. Under the 2017 round of the Sports Capital Programme €12,763,963 in funding has been secured for 208 sporting organisations across Dublin.

We are committed to ensuring that people feel safe in their homes, whether in our urban centres or the heart of rural Ireland.

Here in Dublin there is a currently 3,457 Gardaí on the beat and a Garda fleet consisting of 572 vehicles. We have a plan in place in place to achieve an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021.

We are also working to ensure that vulnerable older people feel safe in their communities. Under the Senior Alerts Scheme 2,853 people have received a personal monitored alarm in Dublin since late 2015.

Since the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs in 2012 the number of persons on the Live Register in Dublin has declined by 44%.

Youth unemployment also continues to fall with a reduction of 63% of U-25s on the Live Register over the same period. As we approach full employment our focus is on high quality, secure job creation.