Construction of the new Luas system will begin in spring 2000, the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, told the Dail. And the drilling of trial boreholes for the controversial underground section will start early next year.
A week after unveiling the Government plan, the Minister last night announced ail a schedule of the work, warning that the target dates were subject to satisfactory completion of the necessary legal procedures and technical appraisals.
She was addressing a Fine Gael motion condemning the Government's "failure to approve the Luas proposal as designed, involving the loss of £114 million".
But it was a motion that one of Fine Gael's leading figures, Mr Jim Mitchell, had declined to sign, and one which provoked an amendment from the Labour Party on the grounds that some of its Dublin TDs had no problem with aspects of the Luas plan.
Mr Mitchell, who will obey the party whip and support the motion tonight, told Fine Gael's spokesman on public enterprise, Mr Ivan Yates, last week that the matter should have been discussed by the parliamentary party.
"The original Luas proposal had six significant drawbacks from my point of view. For all its ad-hocery, the new plan overcomes all these reservations," he said.
Before a sceptical Opposition, Ms O'Rourke told the House that the first sod would be turned, on the Tallaght-Abbey Street line in spring 2000, to be completed by winter 2002.
In autumn 2000, construction would begin on the Sandyford-St Stephen's Green line, to be finished three years on, in summer 2003.
As work is proceeding on these lines, Ms O'Rourke said, "the detailed technical evaluation" would be conducted simultaneously for the underground section. Consultants will shortly be recruited to undertake this work.
Trial boreholes will be dug early in 1999 and will take six to nine months to complete.
In spring 2001 construction will start on the Abbey Street-Connolly Station line, and is expected to conclude in winter 2002.