MINISTER FOR Transport Leo Varadkar has given a strong indication that the flagship public transport projects, Metro North and Dart underground, will not get the green light from Government.
Mr Varadkar made the admission when he ruled out any new significant road and rail projects for the next five years.
Speaking in Co Clare, Mr Varadkar told delegates at a tourism conference: “We are not really going to have any new significant road and rail projects in the next five years. The concentration is going to be on maintaining assets as they are now.”
The Government’s pre-budget document published on Friday disclosed €750 million in further cuts for capital projects next year, with additional cuts in capital budgets over subsequent years.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said it meant some of the bigger projects would not go ahead.
The final decision on the capital and infrastructure projects will be announced on Thursday following a special Cabinet meeting on the budget.
Mr Varadkar’s spokesman said the Minister has always said not all the major Department of Transport projects would proceed because of the State’s straitened economic circumstances.
But Mr Varadkar had made the argument among Cabinet colleagues that at least one should continue.
The Department of Education said it had no comment to make on weekend reports that as many as 2,000 teaching jobs may be cut as part of the Government’s austerity programme.
“We cannot comment on speculation. The Cabinet has yet to finish considering the department’s submission under the Comprehensive Review of Expenditure.”
The report claimed discussions between Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn and Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin had focused on reducing the overall number of teachers from 57,000 to 55,000.
One of the main teaching unions, the TUI, yesterday warned that such severe cuts in teaching numbers would have severe repercussions.
TUI deputy general secretary Annette Dolan said: “An increase of the pupil teacher ratio at second level does not mean one or two more students in a classroom – it means less teachers in a school.
“A revision upwards of one point in the ratio to 20:1 would result in one less teacher or 33 less class periods per week in a small- to medium-sized school,” she said.
The Department of Education is expected, however, to maintain the level of its capital programme, as shovel-ready school-building projects were identified as priorities under the Government’s job initiative.
Yesterday Mr Quinn said 14 new schools were built so far this year under his department’s Rapid Programme.
“These schools serve rapidly developing areas, where either there was no existing school or where existing provision was unable to meet the demand,” he said.
In his speech, Mr Varadkar also said the Department of Public Expenditure had proposed to cut a further 106 State agencies in addition to the 30 that are currently being rationalised.
“I don’t think we will be going that far. It will be more like 50,” he said.