Ms Anne Graham:

Deputy Ellis also requested that there should be feedback on the submissions on the network. We covered that in saying the corridors we have out for consultation are required no matter what network of services is put in place because they are the main and most busy radial corridors into the city centre.

We covered the CPO powers, and the other issue the Deputy raised was that the whole thing is a mess and confusing and he questioned whether we would start one project and then continue with the others. We make no apology for bringing forward all of these projects together because the city needs them and congestion is growing. We need to move on all aspects of our public transport system - metro, bus and rail - and there is an urgency about delivering these projects for the city. While I know it is difficult for communities when a lot of consultation is going on at the same time or even on a staggered basis, we need to bring forward these projects and start delivering them because there is a timeline in terms of planning and construction before we will actually see these improvements. We are ambitious to get these projects moving and get them to a point of an agreed planning permission and then we will move into construction. That is what we are proposing to do.

On the Go-Ahead services that have commenced operation, we agree that there have been a few teething issues that have resulted in some complaints but we believe they will work themselves out. There are issues related to changing operator as well as service timetables and these are beginning to calm down now and the services are operating well. Something else that has particularly impacted on the 17A is congestion.

The commencement of that service at a time when there was a big build-up of congestion, particularly in the lead up to Christmas, has caused difficulties for running times. We will make any amendments that need to be made to improve reliability with Go-Ahead Ireland. The services will certainly bed down and we need to give them at least a number of weeks and months of operation before making a judgment on them.