Mr. Cormac O'Rourke:

I am not trying to side-step the Deputy's question but the interaction between the buses and the Luas is a matter for the NTA and not the TII. We do not have any input in regard to buses. On the Luas, it is a high capacity public transport item. It is useful to rehearse some of the rules of thumb about public transport capacity. Buses can carry approximately 2,000 to 3,000 passengers per direction per hour. Bus rapid transit, BRT, can carry up to 4,000 per direction per hour. The Luas can carry up to 8,000 per direction per hour. The Luas should be able to carry three and half times the number of passengers carried by a bus on the same route and this should help congestion. In regard to metro, the number of passengers per direction per hour will be 15,000 to 20,000. I do not have similar data for the DART. These are the rules of thumb used internationally for planning. I think Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority had a different plan for the College Green area but I do not think it worked. I do not know any more about it, other than what I read in the newspapers. The prioritisation of different modes of transport within Dublin is not within the remit of the TII. Rather, it is within the remit of the NTA. We do work closely with the NTA. For the Luas, it is our sanctioning authority. We propose the projects but they are sanctioned by the NTA. There is very close co-operation between both agencies. We are working with the NTA on the knock-on effects for certain routes. I cannot say any more than that about the matter.

Deputy Fitzmaurice asked about the Galway outer ring road. I do not think it will be ten more years before it is provided. We are hoping to get the project to planning in the relatively near future. We have sought advice on the matter from the experts in the National Parks and Wildlife Service.