Brennan: Public-private partnership 'only option' for LUAS
Transport Minister Seamus Brennan has said a public-private partnership (PPP) remains his preferred way of financing Dublin’s proposed metro system.
Mr Brennan said he hoped the cabinet would allow a private company to build the underground system and lease it to the Government for 25 to 30 years.
Opposition parties said such a move would end up costing taxpayers €10bn, but the minister said he believed it was the only viable option.
"It’s not possible for the State to fork out billions for the metro in the traditional structure, so the PPP structure of it being provided by the private sector and the State leasing it for 25 or 30 years - that is still the preferred way to do it," he said.
Mr Brennan also said today that he had still not made up his mind on how to resolve the fiasco surrounding the decision to run the LUAS light-rail system through the Red Cow roundabout on the outskirts of Dublin.
The minister had previously suggested putting the rail tracks on "stilts" to avoid causing traffic disruption, but he said today that the tracks may still run alongside traffic on the roundabout.
Mr Brennan said the National Roads Authority’s plans to upgrade the M50 motorway had confused the issue about the LUAS-Red Cow interchange and he said he was considering postponing any possible changes to the interchange until the NRA’s redevelopment of the M50 begins in two years’ time.
