Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I also welcome the initiative taken by the Government to neutralise the value of land below 10 metres. This will be helpful. I agree it is important that the major part of the system will be tunnelled. My area will discuss concerns with the RPA on Friday. The idea that any part of the metro system could be erected on stilts or above ground level is, I suggest to the Minister, unacceptable. Currently, it is proposed that metro north be tunnelled as far as Collins Avenue. A number of alternatives are then proposed, including that it be at grade level. I do not believe this is possible because at maximum capacity metro will be operating one train every 90 seconds and the conflict with vehicular traffic would be appalling. A second alternative that it be run on stilts is unacceptable on the grounds that, either architecturally from an engineering point of view or aesthetically, it would do nothing for Ballymun which is currently being regenerated. The third alternative is a form of cut and cover similar to that used during construction of part of the Port Tunnel. It is a little more refined than that but, essentially, that is what is being proposed. I do not believe it is the best solution and will be pushing strongly that this should not be adopted.

If the metro can be tunnelled as far as Collins Avenue, it can be tunnelled as far as Santry Cross at a cost of an additional €100 million to €200 million. To run the metro at grade level or on stilts would involve building a complicated and dangerous interchange in the heart of the new town of Ballymun. That in itself will cost an enormous amount of money. The RPA should be instructed not to take that alternative. The rest of the system has great potential.

I welcome the Minister's announcement regarding the route alignment for metro north and that public consultation on metro west will begin in a few weeks. This shows the Government's determination to proceed as quickly as possible to deliver a metro system. Metro west will run from metro park, just beyond the M50, linking newly developing and existing areas in my constituency of Finglas — people in this area are highly dependent on public transport as many live too far from the relatively decent bus links — across to Abbotstown where the National Sports Campus is being built and on to Blanchardstown, one of the largest population centres in the country. It will then run on to Lucan, Clondalkin, Tallaght and places beyond that as mentioned by Deputy Gogarty.

It is important we recognise we are speaking for the first time about integration of transport. This will mean people travelling on the Kildare line will be able to get to Dublin Airport by making one change at Drumcondra. Similarly, making maximum use of the Liffey junction and other existing infrastructure, it will be possible to provide a high quality rail network in the city.

I want to speak about road construction. The M50 upgrade has begun. We have learned many lessons, most of them positive, from upgrading what used to be known as the Naas dual carriageway. While there may have been difficulties during certain stages of the management works, the outcome has been truly superb. We need to heed those lessons while upgrading the remainder of the M50.

I will now deal with the difficulties that will be posed by the National Roads Authority through the manner in which it is dealing with the upgrading of the M50 and its impact on IKEA, a key feature of the regeneration of Ballymun, a project that stands to deliver up to 500 jobs for that area. That the NRA persists in its determination to limit to approximately ten per day the number of additional vehicular exits from IKEA onto the M50 is laughable. The danger of creating gridlock in the local road system is enormous. I again ask the NRA and, perhaps at this stage, An Bord Pleanála — though I do not dare to try to influence its decision on the matter — to bear in mind that the decision on this matter will have a knock-on effect on others.

The port tunnel is an enormous engineering project which will be of great value to the city. There is a possibility — there is no point pretending otherwise — that in the initial stages it will have a negative impact on the local road network in my constituency. We will need to work with Dublin City Council to ensure, for example, that trucks not meant to be on the local road network or clogging up the quays are not doing so. I suggest to the Minister that it is important we look at an issue which arose during the planning stage but which for a variety of reasons was shelved, namely, the link between the port tunnel on the northside and the N11 along the east coast. It makes very little sense not to utilise that link. Given the expertise available today and the availability of public private partnerships and other systems to deliver road and other infrastructural projects, it must be possible to extend the tunnel across to Dublin Bay.

I welcome the decision by the Minister and Government to allow Dublin Bus to increase its bus capacity by 200. Dublin Bus is doing a good job. Despite the criticisms of the company by some, by and large it delivers a quality service to the city as does its sister company, Bus Éireann to areas around the country. However, Dublin Bus has not only been hamstrung by a lack of buses but by a delay in the delivery of bus lanes. I was a member of Dublin City Council for many years. I cannot understand why it takes years, not months, for what would appear to be a relatively simple engineering job to be completed. I recognise that utilities and so on must be diverted but I cannot understand why such projects cannot be completed on time. Perhaps we could introduce penalty clauses for those contractors who do not deliver on time.

Integration is important and is part of Transport 21. It is the first time in the history of this State that we have witnessed a shift from private transport to public transport, an initiative and policy move which I welcome.

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