The Government is seeking to fast-track legislation that will allow for the establishment of a State agency to deliver the planed Dublin metro project.Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien wants the Oireachtas committee overseeing the area to waive pre-legislative scrutiny of his new MetroLink Bill to speed up the process.In a letter, O’Brien told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport that he hoped to see the new MetroLink legislation published and enacted by the first quarter of next year.MetroLink will be the largest and most expensive public project in the history of the State. O’Brien is expected to bring proposals to the Cabinet in the middle of this month to allow for it to go to tender. The Cabinet would at a later date have to give final approval to go ahead with the project when tenders have been received.Updated costings for the project are also likely to be given to the Government over the next couple of weeks, with speculation in the transport world that the bill for MetroLink could be in the range of €15 billion to €18 billion.The high-frequency 19km rail line would run from Swords in north Dublin to Charlemont on the southside of the city, serving Dublin Airport and the city centre. O’Brien told the transport committee the Cabinet had given approval on June 16th for the legislation to be drafted and work was under way on it.In line with the Government’s Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan, and in order to maintain the project timelines, he said he was requesting the committee waive the normal pre-legislative scrutiny process “to expedite the enactment of the legislation as soon as possible”.He said the “general scheme for the Bill is structured to be facilitative in nature (ie not overly prescriptive), to enable the legal form, functions, governance, resourcing/financial and transitional arrangements for the new MetroLink delivery body, to be known as the MetroLink Agency”. [ NTA reviewing Irish Rail proposal to end contract for delayed IT systemOpens in new window ]O’Brien said that under the legislation the agency would be financed by means of a dedicated statutory fund to be known as “Ciste Forbartha Meitreo”. The Minister said this was to provide for a multiannual funding facility for MetroLink from within “the project’s agreed overall funding envelope, thereby addressing concerns about the impact of the existing annual funding mechanisms on value for money and overall costs”.The secretary general of the Department of Transport is to be the accounting officer for the agency, which will also have its own board, the Minister said. The board would, he said, have responsibility for leading and directing the agency’s activities, including programme scope, budget and schedule.At present, responsibility for MetroLink is based in a division of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). O’Brien said a transition strategy was being developed in conjunction with TII and the National Transport Authority and this will set out how MetroLink will move to the agency “with the autonomy, commercial capability and specialist expertise required for a project of this scale”.“The policy objective for the agency’s governance is to provide a framework that ensures clarity and accountability, helps mitigate financial and other project risks, supports timely delivery, and retains a focus on value for money for the Exchequer.”The Minister said last week he hoped construction work on the project could start in 2028. The line is scheduled to be completed in the mid 2030s.The Department of Transport said the new agency would be established “in line with the principles outlined in the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies, including through the appointment of a chief executive officer who will be accountable to the Public Accounts Committee of the Oireachtas, and will be subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General”.