Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I listened to the advice of some of our road engineers who do not believe it is an appropriate project to advance. I agree because of what it would do. As I said at a previous meeting of this committee, a €200 million bill would be due to the operator of the tunnel under the River Shannon. Within the confines of its contract, it will be entitled to compensation if we provide an alternative bridge across the Shannon, which is what the proposed road would involve. Also, it would fundamentally undermine the sustainable development of Limerick. I recently saw an attractive full-page advertisement in one of the newspapers stating Limerick city is going green. It can, will and should, and it would benefit from this. To do so, it has to bring life back to the centre. Three percent of the population lives within the historic core. To bring life back, we must bear in mind the alternative. It is an either–or scenario.

Should we not develop Limerick along the four railway lines that go into and through the city and which are underutilised? The roundabout at the end of the first phase of the northern distributor road is not in the middle of nowhere; it is very close to the community in Moyross, which could be significantly improved, developed and strengthened through the introduction of a train station, as one of many new stations we are going to put into Limerick.

The key to the development of Limerick is a new metropolitan rail system for the city. I have been upfront and honest about that. It will involve the reopening of the Foynes line and the use of the Ballybrophy line and putting in new stations on that, the development of stations on the Limerick Junction line to the Culbreth station, including the development of the centre and Culbreth station. The Land Development Agency has a key role in developing Limerick in those areas by creating transport-oriented development, that is high-quality housing for people close to the centre and to public transport. Limerick has a choice: does it want to go down the route of the old, sprawled roads based model, or does it want to be a modern green European transport orientated development city? I think the latter is the way to go.