MORE than €24m has been paid to property owners for land to make way for Metro North.

The government said the massive project, despite increasing controversy, will go ahead and that funding will continue to be made available.

Figures released by the Department of Transport showed that spending associated with the metro line to Dublin Airport and Swords has already come to €127.2m.

Of that, project management and development cost €64.9m.

Advance enabling works cost €38.3m, the department said, with significant further costs in recent months.

Land and property acquisition for tunnelling purposes and to cater for new station entrances and exits have so far cost €24m.

The €127.2m had been spent prior to 1 December last year when authority for the project passed to the National Transport Authority.

It is believed the bill for Metro North may already have exceeded €200m, according to a Department of Transport source.

The source said the existing expenditure was a key influencing factor in opting for Metro North ahead of the Dart interconnector project.

Last week, transport minister Noel Dempsey said the Dart project – which would have provided a link-up for all of Dublin's disparate public transport services – would not go ahead.

He said because it was in the planning stage, there would be no money made available to start the project before 2014.

The department source said: "There is obviously a concern that cancelling a project that has already cost so much money would leave the government open to criticism.

"However, there was also an argument made that cutting our losses on something people are already calling a white elephant should be considered."

A revised business case for the Metro North project published by the National Transport Authority said a cost-benefit analysis showed it would pay for itself.

According to its figures, every euro invested would yield €2.40 in benefits from reduced congestion, fare income and a fall in road accidents. By 2030, it anticipates more than 25 million car trips will have been removed from the roads, leading to 170 fewer accidents each year.