Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

This project must be seen in the same way as the 19th-century investment in the railways. That was the biggest investment in the country in that century, and we are still reaping a benefit from it. We have to see this in terms of long-term return. It has to be factored in that the population of this city and the surrounding counties is projected to grow by some 400,000 people up to 2030. In fact, since the last census, there are more people now living in Dublin city and county than are living in the whole of Munster. What we are constantly doing is adding to the size of the city without putting in the things that would make the city run smoothly, so it can be a truly 21st-century city that does not have the kind of congestion that we saw last week, when there was a fire in Dublin Port Tunnel. When such a incident occurs, the whole of the city closes down and every business and every person who needs to go to work or to a hospital is constrained because of that one thing. We do not have the kind of alternatives we need to have for this city, the surrounding counties and the whole country due to the under-investment in this area. It is not all on the Minister's watch, because this has been planned for a very long time, but the decision is being postponed again. There is no other way of saying it.

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