Fiona O'Malley (Dún Laoghaire, Progressive Democrats)

I am delighted to have the opportunity to raise this important matter. Next year the upgrading of the M50 will commence and I hope the last section in Carrickmines and Cherrywood in my constituency will be completed. The building of the port tunnel led to the belief that heavy goods vehicles would be removed from the streets of Dublin city. This dream will not be delivered if the Minister insists on leaving the Dublin port tunnel at an operational height of 4.65 m. The Dublin port tunnel is a vital strategic link in the country's transport infrastructure. We must accommodate in the port tunnel the vehicles which are accommodated on the national network. Motorway bridges around the country are constructed to a height of 5.3 m and the Luas bridge in Dundrum is at a height of 5.5 m.

At a recent public inquiry into the upgrading of the M50-M3 junction, the two tunnels that are proposed to be built at the Castleknock-Blanchardstown interchange are to an agreed height of 5.3 m. The argument that a lane width of 3.5 m is unsafe is simply wrong. The Vielha tunnel which links Spain and France and is a 5 km long tunnel is being constructed to a European standard of 5.3 m wide and a height of 5.25 m. This is international best practice and contradicts the advice that the NRA has given to the Department. The effect of not increasing the tunnel height would be to force "supercube" lorries on to our city streets with all the attendant traffic problems that would result.

On the subject of both safety and traffic management, the ventilation system requires that traffic does not stall in the tunnel so a holding bay at both ends of it, in Ringsend and at Fairview and Drumcondra on the northern side, will have to be established. This will have a direct impact on the management and functioning of the East Link bridge on the south side which currently handles a maximum capacity of 22,000 cars per day.

National Toll Roads has already flagged in the newspapers this week that traffic chaos will ensue to an already gridlocked M50 if these holding bays are to become a reality. If we add to this the five-year road works that the M50 has allowed for, the result would be catastrophic. The sum of €770 million has been invested in the tunnel to date but it will fail in its objective if we continue this approach.

In the past we did not invest in a trefoil system around the Red Cow interchange on the basis of its €65 million cost. We now regret that we did not make such an investment. It is time to call stop and for the Minister to realise that we have to make the right decision before it is too late. We cannot make short-term decisions, as was done by not investing in trefoil junctions.

Consultants estimated that the cost of making the required changes would be in the region of €30 million to €60 million, which is considerably less than their original €100 million estimate when the change was first mooted. While it may delay completion of the project, we should build a tunnel that will serve its purpose and the needs of tomorrow as well as today. The Minister has been warned and it is now time to take action to solve this problem. I urge the Minister for Transport to re-examine the Dublin Port tunnel height.

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