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

Please God I still will have hair by the time it is completed but the important point to be made is that we have been talking about this for a long time. None of us here, of the five groups that have presented, are in any way opposed to progress or to this project. What we are opposed to is this particular detail. What we want to see resolved is this particular detail. We want that to be fleshed out and fixed as soon as practicable, to use Mr. Creegan's words. I am delighted to hear that commitment. I would appreciate a firm date or timeframe on that commitment because while "as soon as is practicable" sounds good in this room, on leaving this room it will be scant consolation to the parents on 30 April, for example, when the school is having their parents' night. It is scant consolation in terms of enrolments and the knock-on effect due to people choosing not to enrol their children in the school and so on. I would appreciate it if a firmer timeframe could be put on that. There may be a few outstanding questions but I refer to achieving the engineering objectives with regard to the radius from the proposed boring site.

In effect, my question is the same as that asked by Deputy Ellis, albeit phrased slightly differently. How far north or south can one go from the proposed boring site without undoing the engineering objectives? I presume one would start at the northern end of the line and there would not be a boring site at the mid-point of the line. I presume it is not possible to go beyond a certain radius as otherwise there would be no point in having a median boring site. I would appreciate some information on that issue as it would allow us to start considering other sites and options along the route. This is an important consideration.

Mr. Creegan stated that the NTA considered tens of sites. It is time to revisit those sites because the proposed route is not acceptable, as the NTA will be aware from the number of people who participated in the consultation to date and the number of submissions received. I respect the NTA's remit and that it has a right to continue this process until 11 May. While that is right and proper, a decision and announcement will need to be made as soon as is practicable after that date. I would appreciate it if the NTA would provide a firm date by which an announcement will be made.

I thank all the witnesses, including those from the community groups, for attending.