Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I am a bit more in touch than the Minister with the details of what is proposed, having discussed the matter with the RPA on a number of occasions.

The Minister made a number of recent claims. He said the Red Cow roundabout coped well, but this issue is completely different. A new bridge was built at the Red Cow roundabout and grade separation took place, but in Ballymun the metro will be built on the surface with walls on either side. Two lanes of traffic will be lost and the main traffic artery will be reduced to one lane. That will be bad enough but with traffic feeding into Ballymun Road from east and west it simply cannot work.

The Minister also referred to the modelling work that had been done, but that work has not been agreed with the traffic department of Dublin City Council or the regeneration company, and much of it seems to be pie in the sky. What is the difference in cost between putting the Ballymun metro underground and putting it on the surface? It seems to boil down to cost, but the surface option is not acceptable to residents living in Glasnevin and Ballymun. We will not settle for a cheap metro solution when the Minister is prepared to spend millions of euro keeping the metro underground everywhere else. Does the Minister accept the strongly held view of the public in that regard, in view of the hugely detrimental effect it will have on regeneration in Ballymun, local traffic movement and the local environment?

A cheap option also seems to be proposed for DCU station in the form of an open underground station running within feet of people's gable walls. Is he prepared to ask the RPA to revisit that decision?

See this speech in context