Minister for Transport Darragh O’Brien needs to set out a final budget for the planned MetroLink rail line in Dublin, Sinn Féin has said after new figures show about €530 million has already been spent on the project.Sinn Féin TD for Wicklow and chairman of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee, John Brady, said at the weekend that more than half a billion euro had already been spent on the project with about €50 million paid out in July alone, “yet there is still no finalised budget”. “How does this approach make any sense?” he said.“Spending now and determining the budget later seems entirely the wrong way to approach a mega project of this scale.”In an answer to a parliamentary question, the Minister told Brady it was “too early in the project life-cycle to give a precise capital cost or budget for MetroLink”. He said: “This is because the project has yet to go through the detailed procurement stage. The preliminary business case showed how the project benefits exceed the project costs. “The cost estimates for MetroLink are currently under review by the National Transport Authority as part of preparation for approval gate two of the [Government’s] infrastructure guidelines and will ultimately be finalised once tenders have been received, in advance of the Government’s decision at approval gate three.”O’Brien said he understood that €530 million had been spent on MetroLink to the end of June 2026.The Minister said that construction of MetroLink was earmarked to commence over the coming years with a view to operation in the 2030s.Brady said while there was great public appetite for the project to finally be delivered, the public deserved to know exactly how much the project would cost.“With every day that passes, the project is absorbing more and more public money without a clear overall cost,” he said.“I am asking the Minister directly, what is the budget for this project and when will a final figure be established? Taxpayers deserve certainty, accountability and proper financial controls before costs run out of control.”The Irish Times reported in July that by the end of the year, spending on MetroLink could reach almost €750 million, before any construction on the project commences. This would include the cost of purchasing a site in O’Connell Street which had previously been earmarked by UK property group Hammerson as part of a large-scale shopping centre development.Hammerson said in July it had sold assets, valued at £69 million (€80.7 million), including multiple holdings in central Dublin which had been bought by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), the State transport developer. TII confirmed it had bought more than 2.5 acres from Hammerson, encompassing almost all of the western side of Upper O’Connell Street, including the former Carlton cinema site.TII would not reveal the total cost of the purchase, but said it had acquired the site to “support MetroLink construction works and future development planning”.Michael Flynn, interim programme director for MetroLink, told an Oireachtas committee in July that more than €525 million had been spent on MetroLink to date and another €200.5 million in expenditure was forecast by the end of the year. A “further ramp-up” in spending was expected in 2027 “as MetroLink will be on site next year” with the main construction following from 2028, he said.