Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

Transport 21 contains a €32 billion envelope. The Taoiseach clearly wishes to see an additional project introduced as, at a crucial time in planning, he is talking about the need for an outer orbital motorway for Dublin, which is yet another motorway. How does this work within Transport 21? Will the Taoiseach automatically get his way? Will we be forced to drop another project and will the Minister be forced to ask the Minister for Finance for additional funding for the outer orbital motorway? Alternatively, is the Taoiseach simply trying to distract attention from the central issue? I agree with the Minister that we need tolls to manage congestion on the M50 but is the Taoiseach unwilling to address this political reality and, therefore, distracting us by discussing other outer orbital roads, which were not included in Transport 21? What will happen with regard to that outer orbital motorway?

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