Mr. John Fitzgerald:

Senator Barrett has not said anything with which I disagree. The NTA, however, is really good at project appraisal, so much so that the Minister asks the authority to be involved in project appraisal if it is not. The authority has some good skilled people in this whole area. I accept there have been projects in the past which cost much public money but were not cost-justified in the long run.

We will be presenting a strategy to the Minister for the greater Dublin area, which accounts for 40% of the population, next year. The DART underground issue will come to a head sometime next year as it is time-limited. After a court action, notice for rail works must be served in a year and a half rather than the seven year limit in the past. While I cannot pre-empt the outcome of all of this, the two big ticket projects - DART underground and metro north - will not go ahead for certain.

Should one of them go ahead or not? I would not even attempt to second guess that process at this stage but decisions on them are imminent. We will produce a strategy for the Minister which will encompass the north Dublin study about which I spoke. It will encompass the DART study about which I spoke and will bring a range of these things under the umbrella of a strategy for greater Dublin that did not really exist before.

I do not think the Phoenix Park tunnel can be accelerated beyond 2016. We have pushed it as hard as we possibly can but 2016 is pretty fixed at this stage. It is very achievable.

Senator Barrett is absolutely right about the private buses. I would go so far as to say that the success of the private buses is a measure of how successful the Dublin Bus alternative could be if it is given a chance and allowed to run. There is no subsidy for any of the private bus operators bar a very small one that involves a small subsidy because it is in an area where there is no take up. Apart from that, all of the others operate without subsidy of any kind.

I was not conscious of the local taxi licences as a big issue or as an issue until very recently. I am much more conscious of it now and it is something on which I will keep a close eye. I take the points Senator Barrett made.