UNSIGNED PREVIEW — not a promoted public release.
Actor: Darragh O'Brien TD
insufficient_evidenceTopic: housing
Office: Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage
Evidence: 10 events
Sources: 10
This promise by Darragh O'Brien TD has INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE for a rating. Only 10 evidence events were found. More research is needed before a reliable assessment can be made.
This promise is SPECIFIC (vagueness score: 35/100). It includes measurable targets or deadlines that make it trackable. Specific promises are easier to verify as kept or broken.
Issue category: housing
Jennifer Whitmore TD (Social Democrats) stated: 'We were promised electric DART carriages, first in 2025, then 2026, now 2029.' She expressed deep disappointment over continued delays to the battery-electric DART service for Wicklow.
The Irish Independent reported that in 2019, the DART for Wicklow Town was announced as serving passengers by 2023-2024, with timeframes for 2025 and 2026 also missed, and the extension now pushed back to 2030.
Sinn Féin TD John Brady echoed the complaint: 'We were promised electric DART carriages, first in 2025, then 2026, now 2029', criticising the government for failing Wicklow commuters.
Legislative changes in 2025/2026 now permit electronic record-keeping in community pharmacies, removing a key barrier to e-prescribing. Vendor procurement for the national ePrescribing solution was underway by mid-2025, with competitive dialogue following.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment launched a public consultation on Ireland's first National Life Sciences Strategy in October 2025. The Programme for Government 2025 includes a commitment to develop this strategy to ensure the sector remains competitive.
The public consultation was described as a 'once-in-a-generation policy opportunity' for Ireland's life sciences sector, with submissions from Ibec, AmCham, and other industry bodies.
The Department of Transport funded a third fleet order for 100 new electric DART carriages in December 2025. Plans include deploying battery-electric DART carriages to Wicklow from around 2029 onwards.
The new National Maternity Hospital is now forecast to open in late 2028 to early 2029, according to the latest estimates.
The IPU welcomed 2026 amendments to pharmacy legislation allowing prescriptions transmitted electronically to be retained in electronic form.
€90 million to support the retrofitting of approximately 2,500 local authority social homes to a Building Energy Rating of B2, as part of the Programme for Government commitment to retrofit 36,500 local authority homes by 2030.
The National Children's Hospital has missed at least 18 planned completion dates and is roughly 4 years late. Costs have ballooned to approximately €2.2 billion. As of May 2026, the opening date remains uncertain.