Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

All of us in this House who have been treading the streets of Kildare and Meath in the past few days have seen the consequences of the remarkably fast development that has taken place in those areas without proper planning. Would the Minister agree that Dublin City Council's proposal for a different use of the south port docks area presents a unique opportunity to use that valuable land, which is within walking distance of the city centre, not merely to store containers but as one of the best quality areas of development so that people do not have to make those incredible congested journeys into Meath and Kildare every morning? If we turn to the Dublin Port Company for direction, it is clear it would plaster the whole of Dublin Bay in concrete and turn the city into a port and nothing else.

In that context, does the Minister agree that this alternative development of Dublin Port needs strategic leadership from someone like him? Does he agree that this is a clever option, that we can develop our port traffic somewhere like Drogheda which has the proper infrastructure, and put people in the south docks in one of the highest quality locations in the whole of Europe? Will the Minister bring in the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Department of Transport, or will he leave it to the port companies to decide what they want? The ports document shows a massive increase in the volume of trade in Dublin Port which gives me no confidence that the Minister is listening to what people in Dublin City Council are setting out as a very intelligent solution.

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