Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy now wants it to go underground. The extra cost would be a minimum of €250 million, just for the Ballymun section, which is a very significant amount. The RPA has assured me that such a cost is unwarranted and that there is every possibility of reconfiguring traffic in Ballymun. There will be no difficulty in so doing and it will have little or no effect on the metro's journey times from Swords to the city. In any event, were the metro to run through an underground section, it would slow down substantially.

As the Deputy is aware, the matter is still under consideration. While I am aware of the views expressed, unfortunately, no rational arguments remain in this debate. The argument is being presented in terms of other locations receiving something better than Ballymun. It is most unfortunate that someone should present what will be a fantastic state-of-the-art facility in such terms. Effectively, metro west will run over ground for its entire length. I do not understand the Deputy's motivation in suggesting there is something different about the treatment of Ballymun as this is utterly incorrect.

See this speech in context