Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I put it to the Minister that there has been a considerable delay. This plan was first announced in the budget last December and the Minister told me in a reply to a parliamentary question in March that he had made the presentation to the Cabinet sub-committee. Three months have passed since that presentation and no decision or announcement has been made. Will the Minister accept that the effect of that is that all developments regarding transport have been put on hold? The Minister has created considerable uncertainty within the transport companies and meanwhile people continue to sit in cars in congested streets, wait in long bus queues and are squashed into overcrowded trains and the Luas while he cogitates on this and we wait for him make a decision. Time is ticking away. The Minister's predecessor did very little in terms of an overall plan for transport. The Minister promised this plan but six months after the announcement a decision has not yet been made on it.

When does the Minister expect to be in a position to announce the details of the famous ten-year plan? Can he tell the House what will then be the status of A Platform for Change, the previous framework for transport development for the city? What is the status of that framework now and are there various elements of it on which we have all been waiting for umpteen years? Will they be put in place now or fast-tracked or will they be shelved? Will this turn out to be another pre-election stunt as was A Platform for Change?

I looked at the Minister's Department website today and saw this map showing plans for a metro that will go from Bray, through Finglas to Dublin Airport, with a spur to Blanchardstown and going all the way to Clondalkin. Does the fact that this map is on the Minister's website mean that this is current transport policy? Will this be part of the Minister's ten-year plan? Will the Minister let us know his intentions in that regard? We need some action because people are sick and tired of waiting for a decent public transport system.

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