Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I know I have raised this issue with the Minister before and it is not something that will go away. It has long-term implications for traffic in Dublin. Does the Minister agree the tunnel could be modified at a low cost to provide for clearance while meeting all Irish and international safety standards? Will he comment on the specific detailed proposals submitted by the transport umbrella group, outlining how this could be done by reducing the width of the traffic lanes and dropping the level of the tunnel's floor? The independent consultants appointed by the Minister to report on the feasibility of modifying the tunnel's clearances, concluded that works required to implement the modifications would not involve massive changes. If it is a matter of just moving out the lane which would fit all of these trucks why is the Minister opposed to this? It does not make sense if supercube trucks are coming more and more on stream. Rather than having them driving through the Dublin streets, what the consultants propose seems so logical and simple and makes sense. It would mean removing that type of traffic from the city's roads.

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