Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

Does the Minister accept that the two major causes of delays are political indecision and appeals by property owners? Is he putting any measure in place to deal with these two issues? He must accept that the Luas was delayed for several years by Deputy Harney's dithering over whether it should be put underground or over ground. Even now, the two lines still do not join up in the city centre. The M50 was delayed for years because appeals by property owners were going through the courts. Is the Minister doing anything about either issue? After three years in government we still do not have a decision on the proposed metro.

On the issue of judicial review and judicial proceedings, there is a marked silence as to what the Minister's colleague is doing in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Has Deputy McDowell given the Minister anything in writing about his proposals to deal with the legal obstacles to the process? The two major causes of delays on projects are political indecision and legal challenges, and I am not convinced that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has done anything to address either of those issues.

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