Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank Mr. Murphy and Mr. Creegan for the presentation. I welcome the progress that is being made. The link up between Cabra and St. Stephen's Green is important. I am glad to see that Dawson Street is being included because that would be handy for the likes of myself, from Broombridge, parking in Cabra and making my way here. That is a good development. Mr. Murphy mentioned business and tourism will not be affected and it should create 800 jobs. Is that figure accurate? I accept there will be spin-offs, in terms of other shops.

One of the big issues for me is taxi ranks, particularly in O'Connell Street, such as the Gresham Hotel rank. Has the NTA come to a decision with the local authority to put a rank on O'Connell Street? Whether on either side of the street, even it wraps around the corner and comes onto O'Connell Street, it is important there is a taxi presence for the drivers. I note the suggestion the rank could go down by the side of Clerys, or somewhere like that, and bring it around the corner. Has the NTA looked at that?

On the bus rapid transit service Mr. Murphy mentioned, there was considerable consultation on the project itself. There is a second round of consultation. Perhaps he could tell us when that will take place because I would be interested in looking at that in terms of the airport issue. Mr. Murphy will recall that Metro north was one of the big issues in my area and this is now replacing that project. I want to get a feel for it.

The Phoenix Park tunnel has been mentioned for years and we are only getting back to it now. I do not know how many presentations I got over the years about the Phoenix Park tunnel that has been ideal. Can Mr. Murphy give us a rundown on it? What type of service will it provide?

Will it be heavy rail and how will it link up? I would like to hear about that.

Passenger numbers on buses have increased dramatically in Dublin, Galway and Cork. Dublin Bus is recruiting drivers, which is very welcome. Quite a few have been recruited and there are to be more. That this is occurring makes me more annoyed about the putting out to tender of routes in the near future. I refer to the 10% plan. Literally 100% of services in Waterford city will have been put to tender. Mr. Murphy will say the existing bus service in Waterford can tender but with the progress being made on bus numbers, I completely disagree with the whole trend.

What is the position on parking and loading bays for businesses along O'Connell Street? Will there be further curtailment of ordinary traffic on the street, thereby affecting the flow of taxis? Will buses be curtailed further on the street? I want to get a picture of how this will be handled.