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

On the Coast Guard, I agree with the Senator that it is hugely important. I only realised this time in government how embedded the organisation is in communities right around our coast. I had the pleasure of visiting a number of our Coast Guard stations in the past four years. There have been difficulties in particular areas. While I agree with the Senator’s assessment, we have had major transformation of the Coast Guard and a programme is under way, including the appointment of an assistant secretary in my Department as part of that leadership team. The organisation has a very long and proud history and I am confident it will go into a very significant new phase of development.

We have been looking at metro north for 25 years or more. We should proceed with the metro. I am waiting - impatiently in a sense - for the planning decision on the metro. We need that central spine running from Lissenhall through the centre of north Dublin to the southside at Charlemont. In the future, that spine will continue to Tallaght. I was involved in Platform for Change to plan transport and land development in Dublin. That central core spine was always in all the modelling. It is absolutely critical for all the institutions, including Dublin City University, the Mater Hospital, Dublin Airport, the Rotunda Hospital, as well as O'Connell Street. It is also critical for the planning and development of the city. A high-capacity route from north to south, extending to Tallaght in time, is critical.

The argument has been rehearsed and revisited at many different times. People have been pushing the idea that we would just do a spur from the main rail line. There are various difficulties with that. It would require us to significantly four-track the rail line north of Connolly Station. It would take multibillion euro investments to make sure that running a rail service to the airport would not disadvantage commuters coming from further north. We have just seen, as the Chair will be aware, the controversy in recent weeks over changes to the timetable on the northern line.