Mr. Gerry Murphy:

I will answer everything except the question on the taxi ranks, which will be handled by Mr. Creegan, who is intimately involved in the project and who managed the taxi regulation.

With regard to jobs, the figure of 800 was related to the construction period. It was not a case of any spin-off economic benefit in the city. The figure would still be a robust figure. It represented all the contractors, subcontractors, labour suppliers, providers, designers, etc.

The Deputy is quite right that the next stage for bus rapid transit is public consultation. It will probably be in late September for the Swords-city centre route, in respect of which we have finalised what we believe will be the corridor. We have dealt with all the issues raised at the last consultation. The Blanchardstown-UCD route will be dealt with in December, and the Clongriffin-Tallaght route will not be addressed until next year.

With regard to bus services and tendering, the Deputy mentioned recruitment by Dublin Bus. When we spoke about 10%, we felt there would be growth in the market and that the impact on Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann would be such that the growth would limit any losses if they were not to win the 10%. That is starting to materialise now and I am very pleased there is further growth in passenger numbers this year.

We have some indicative service patterns for the Phoenix Park tunnel. What we could do is take two of the services that currently terminate in Heuston and run them through to the city centre. We could add in two more services. The indicative pattern at present is that there could be four services per hour running through from the Kildare rail line not only to the city centre but also to Grand Canal Dock. There has been a big shift in employment to the latter area, which is now a considerable area of employment. People have a desire to get there. The proposal would greatly grow the numbers on the line. We believe the cost of running the additional service will be met by revenue and that the passengers would get a much better service.