Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair and the committee for facilitating what is on the face of it a somewhat unusual request to have a meeting like this. It can be seen from the powerful testimonies from the community groups precisely why we needed to have a meeting like this though. It is fair to say this is an unprecedentedly large project and an unprecedentedly large problem for the various groups which are facing up to this project right now. I thank all those who facilitated my request on that and I thank all the groups for taking the time to come in and present to us here today.

Often in the Oireachtas we are accused of being reactive rather than proactive, that is why the timing of this was so crucial. It was crucial to have it in advance of the closing of the public consultation deadline of 11 May 2018. The timing, as can be seen from the two testimonies of the schools in particular, is absolutely of the essence. We truly need to have clarity outlined from the two State bodies, with respect to any changes that are proposed to be made to the emerging preferred route as soon as possible after that 11 May 2018 public consultation deadline passes.

I cannot emphasise that strongly enough. With respect, I put the two Stage agencies on notice in that regard. I would appreciate a commitment from perhaps both Mr. Nolan and Ms Graham that they will endeavour to announce any changes to this route, or to the boring site in particular, as soon as is practically possible following the 11 May deadline. The reason I emphasise this so strongly is that I know from the various consultations TII and the NTA have had with the various groups that a number of different dates and potential deadlines have been given, which gives rise to uncertainty. As far as the schools and enrolment are concerned, there is a massive difference between a deviation being announced to the boring site in the middle of May and one being announced in the middle of July. That has a knock-on effect in terms of enrolment, capitation and the potential viability of the schools and their operations going forward. I just wanted to emphasise that at the opening of my remarks. This is not to say that Prospect ACA, Home Farm and Na Fianna do not also have pressing timeline concerns. However, Mr. Nolan and Ms Graham can see in this case that even if TII and the NTA were to announce a deviation to the boring site, the timing of it would be crucial to the schools in particular and their enrolment. I would therefore appreciate if the two Stage agencies could come back to me with perhaps a proposed timeline or even a commitment to look at these issues with the greatest possible urgency.

I will probably put this question to Mr. Nolan. In the event that boring is moved elsewhere, what implications would a station construction project on St. Mobhi Road have for either Home Farm or Na Fianna? If a station were to remain at St. Mobhi Road, for example, and the boring site were moved elsewhere along a sliding scale, what would the cost implications be? At what radius within the current proposed boring site does the boring site have to be in order to be viable? I know people could propose putting it at either end of the line, but I presume there is some median point at which TII and the NTA want the boring site to be. What exact radius is that from the proposed Na Fianna site? Will TII and the NTA commit to clarifying the outstanding uncertainties for Prospect ACA in particular? The witnesses outlined a number of issues in respect of which they seem to be uncertain, and I hope they might be able to fill in the detail of them, perhaps here or at a later forum in writing. I would appreciate that. I think this could potentially be resolved today.

I have another question, again for either Ms Graham or Mr. Nolan. Do they accept that the level of consultation has been lacking to date? I know they have worked quite hard to engage with, I think, each of the seven groups separately subsequent to the announcement of the project. However, as for the early forays, when it is considered that some stakeholders were only told on the Friday of a bank holiday weekend before a Tuesday public announcement, and that I as an Oireachtas Member and a member of the transport committee had not heard about it in advance of the public announcement and, in fact, was told my a member of Na Fianna by email over that weekend, do the witnesses consider that to be an acceptable level of consultation? When it is considered that there were only three weeks between the announcement of the project and the conclusion of the first public consultation date on the north side, do they consider that to be a good level of public consultation? I think it leaves a little to be desired.