Mr. Owen Keegan:

We will certainly be happy to provide detailed data showing the impact of the recently announced set of changes. The council’s position is that we had anticipated this. We have drawn up a plan which we are still confident will deal with it, namely, the plaza plan. There is a planning process and it took us some time to get the council to agree to it, as there were many objections to it. We underestimated how long it would take to get it through the planning approval process. We thought a period of six months would have been more than adequate, but that did not turn out to be the case and we are where we are. As I said, as we had anticipated this, accordingly, we prepared a plan which we believed would deal with it.

We are not banning all public transport, buses or taxis, from College Green. We are banning east-west traffic and reinforcing the north-south axis for all modes of public transport. We believe that by removing the conflicts associated with catering for east-west traffic, it will work for all modes. We can send the committee details of this. In developing the plaza plan we believe it will work for all modes. It will be possible to service all hotels in the area. Taxis can access close to College Green. They cannot pass through College Green, east-west, but they can certainly get close, almost as close as Foster Place. We believe the plan caters adequately for all modes.

It is important to appreciate that there is no solution that would allow the successful operation of the Luas without some impact on the other modes. We are also dealing with other sustainable modes as cars have long gone. We do not like to discommode bus passengers or taxi users. However, there is a bigger prize in ensuring the successful operation of the Luas. That is why we developed a proposal which allows for the successful operation of the Luas with the minimum inconvenience to other modes.

The plaza plan proposal has been held up. In the meantime, we are working well with Dublin Bus and the National Transport Authority, NTA, to address the congestion issue. There was no intent on my part to blame the NTA. It was just a factual statement. We have been working closely with the NTA and Dublin Bus on the changes needed to deal with the congestion issue. If further changes are required, we will work with the other bodies affected.

We are conscious of the role of the city centre in the use of transportation services which originate in outer areas. Getting the city centre working is important for everybody. It is just as important for routes which commence outside the city council area.

A technical issue was raised as to why taxis were not given access to St. Stephen’s Green. The legal position is that we cannot give access to contraflow bus services such as the one on St. Stephen's Green. We would welcome if the position was reviewed. However, that is the legal position and the arrangement in which we must operate.

We are committed to improving cycling infrastructure. The cycle elements associated with the Luas cross-city line were designed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and clearly there are issues with them. A solution mooted was that we ban cyclists, but we held up against it. We will have to revisit elements of it because it is not satisfactory. We have sought to improve the position on College Green by introducing a new two-way cycle track.

Our difficulty with funding is getting political support at council level. We were delayed in providing a cycle route on the north quays because we could not get the agreement of members to bring forward a scheme. We have approved a cycle route from Clontarf to the city centre, but members are seeking independent legal advice to stop it. We are running into political difficulties in getting the council’s support. We are enthused about cycling and realise the contribution it makes. It is the fastest growing mode of transport in the city and we are keen to support it.