Ms Mary Rose Burke:

We have repeatedly said we agree with the fiscal rules as they relate to current spending but, with a growing population and an infrastructure deficit going back decades, the fiscal rules do not work. We expect Government to make the case that, given our demographic profile, we need investment in critical infrastructure across health, education, energy and transport. The Juncker plan has not worked for any economy, including the large economies. We work with the alliance of European metropolitan chambers and the Juncker plan has not worked for critical infrastructure in any of the associated cities, with Dublin no different. We ask that it be revisited and we believe there are ways of working through the EIB to progress some of our proposals.

I agree fully with the Deputy that public transport is the way forward to make the city less car dependent. Two things have to be done in tandem but reducing car access, so that the city is not car friendly in the absence of a public transport alternative, would cause chaos. Buses are an immediate stopgap. Metro North is predicted to go ahead in 2021 after the planning and consultation phases are complete, with an earliest possible date of 2026 or 2027 for passenger use. We cannot wait until 2027 for a transport solution to north Dublin and the airport so buses are the only realistic alternative in the short to medium term, but for that we need changes to the quality bus corridors and the moving stock. Increasing buses would be good value for money. Difficult decisions have to be made on certain bus routes because the low-hanging fruit in regard to bus corridors has probably been picked and there are capacity issues on some roads. Electrification and investment in rail services to commuter towns are part of the long-term future but we will be dependent on buses for the next decade.