Tony Gregory (Dublin Central, Independent)

I thank the Minister for staying on after Question Time. It is not usual for Ministers to take Adjournment debates, and I am glad he has stayed for this.

The Minister made several points in his reply, including that one of the problems was that the RPA could not contact a resident or a residents' group. In reality, within the last week the RPA arbitrarily cancelled a consultative meeting with the residents' group. Nothing could be more incorrect than the information given to the Minister on that point.

On the issue of funding independent expertise for the residents, they have been told that it has not been approved, yet the Minister told the House that there is no such issue. There is no doubt in my mind, having attended packed public meetings in the Drumcondra area with at least 700 or 800 people present, that there will be massive unrest if the confidence and trust of residents is not re-established. It is this type of deception and subterfuge by the Railway Procurement Agency that is threatening this major infrastructural project for the northside of Dublin. The Minister gave two examples of that deception in the House which can be easily verified.

There is a view among residents in the Drumcondra area that the hidden agenda is that the development and speculative potential value of open space in the area is being given a higher priority than the residents' homes and that the route has been changed from the publicised one which went under open space to one which goes under the most residential part of the Drumcondra area almost in its entirety.

All public representatives in the area have been involved in this and despite assurances from the RPA that it is reviewing this and considering reverting to an open space route, it persists in concentrating all its preparatory work on its own preferred route through the housing area. Again, the evidence contradicts everything its says and that is causing huge unrest.

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