Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

If it is in order, after Deputy Ellis contributes, I will ask the community groups to make a further round of contributions if they wish to do so. I will make a point arising from Deputy Lahart's contribution. Given that the cost of MetroLink will be €3 billion, I do not see any reason the community should not benefit from professional advice, by which I do not mean legal or planning advice but rather technical and engineering support. This would enable members of the public to gain an understanding of what is proposed. The affected schools and the GAA and soccer clubs are community organisations, rather than vested interests or property owners in the traditional sense. They do not have anything to lose and the State would not lose if it were to seek to ensure that they were as satisfied as could be reasonable possible with what was being proposed. For this reason, the local community should have access to the types of independent advice I described. They would then have facts about which they are not aware and would gain insights.

I fully support infrastructure projects that work, which includes working with the community. Instead of placing their consultation notes at the back of a document, the agencies should place them on the front page. People would then view the project as one from they would greatly benefit, rather than as a TII or Government project. Having ownership of the process and access to advice would be good thing and would cost little in the context of the overall cost. Nobody would lose and people would be better informed.