Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

Earlier today I attended, with some of my colleagues, the launch of the consultation on metro west, the last major project of Transport 21 to be announced. In the Estimates this year the Minister has allocated €770 million for investment in public transport, a 58% increase on last year's Estimate. This time last year, when Transport 21 was announced, people said it would never see the light of day. Ironically, because of the speed at which the Railway Procurement Agency has worked, and the speed at which it has managed to engage with the public, I now hear complaints from Members opposite that we are moving too fast. The line has been identified for metro north, which will provide a transport link from St. Stephens Green to Parnell Square, Drumcondra, Griffith Avenue, Dublin City University, Ballymun and to Dublin Airport and beyond. Most of the route will be tunnelled and discussions are being held currently on that matter.

I do not look at these projects through rose-tinted glasses. As public representatives we have engaged with the Ballymun community to see how best metro north can traverse the new town of Ballymun. It is important the RPA receives a clear message that, for the sake of one kilometre, it would be foolhardy in the extreme to insist that metro north travel either at grade level or at elevated level through Ballymun. We seek a fully-bored section through Ballymun, which the community deserves and which is a necessity for the commuters using metro north. We are aware the line must be elevated to traverse the M50 to reach Metropark and travel onwards to the station below Dublin Airport.

We will have further discussions with the RPA later this week and I call on it to seriously examine the huge severance to Ballymun, a new town which is the largest refurbishment project in the history of the State and currently one of the largest in Europe, which will involve investment of several billion euro by the time it is completed. The Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with special responsibility for housing, Deputy Noel Ahern, handed over the keys to the 1,000th new house to be occupied as part of the project and we are more than half way there. Huge infrastructure has been delivered to Ballymun and it would be a great shame if we allowed a high-speed train through the town every 90 seconds. If it had to stop at two or three sets of traffic lights the number of commuters would drop significantly. The disruption to the residential and commercial life of Ballymun would be too much to contemplate and counterproductive and the costs of the alternatives proposed by the RPA are unrealistic.

I will turn to the area of justice, equality and law reform. This Government has ensured investment to tackle not just crime but also the causes of crime. That is a common cliché but this Government is putting its money where its mouth is. I was appalled yesterday, or the day before, to read of some of the proposals the Fine Gael Party has for dealing with law and order.

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