Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

A total of €400 million already has been ring-fenced for this project and the outstanding €250 million will be met without any cost to the State. It is a win-win project and it is shameful that the treatment of sick children has been consigned to hospital facilities which are physically unsuitable and that the replacement of these facilities has been bedevilled by arguments unrelated to the welfare of children. The Government cannot procrastinate like its predecessor but must put children first and get on with the job. Similarly, the development of the old Grangegorman site as a new campus for the DIT is well advanced. It can be funded on a PPP basis over the coming years with little cost to the Exchequer but a strong stimulus to the construction industry. The transfer of 30,000 students to the north inner city and consequent major urban regeneration would constitute a huge boost to the local economy and to the city as a whole.

The planned Luas BXD line links the entire public transport system in the city. It connects Cherrywood on the south side with the Maynooth line on the north side. It will transport the DIT students and staff through the Broadstone station and the Mater patients through the Phibsborough station. It would cost a fraction of the multi-billion public transport projects that are in the pipeline but would, in effect, be the long-awaited DART interconnector for the city. Although the days of Rolls Royce capital projects are over, there are exciting alternative projects that can provide an excellent service, stimulate job creation and cost a fraction of the original price.

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