John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Will the witnesses commit to return here? It is a decision for the committee but it would be useful to set up a calendar of communications between the committee and representatives of the State bodies. I went to the Conrad Hotel. While that was considered as a briefing, it was really a launch. It was flagged as a launch. I brought an intern up to it and he was fascinated by it. It was a helicopter view of it, not an inch-by-inch view. I have experience of dealing with major infrastructural projects in my constituency. They were significant, including the M50 and its extension from four lanes to eight lanes, as well as both Luas projects at different times. The one major gap always was keeping the public informed. Has a budget been set aside for that? As one goes from area to area, ongoing public consultation and ongoing public information become a critical part of this task. People like to be communicated and consulted with. What gets people's backs up is when they wake up some morning and see something happening but have not heard a thing about it.