Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

The Government wants to get rid of the present barrier plaza system and to replace it with an electronic system that will be far more efficient. More and more traffic is more efficiently using the M50, despite all its problems, all the time. Deputy Rabbitte asked what has been going on for the past nine years. I am sure he has travelled the road to see that the M50 has been going through its completion for the past few years, with the roads to Tallaght, in his constituency, to Leopardstown, the link to the Glen of the Downs and Baldoyle all under way. The tunnel on to the road has also been under way.

It would have been convenient if, when people were dealing with this 20 years ago, they could have foreseen that we would increase from a population of 3.4 million and would have the best boom this country has ever imagined under this Government, but people did not see that.

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