Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response, although, with respect, we did not ask him to intervene in the route alignment. He is quite right that no southside Deputies involved themselves in the route alignment issue on the northside, but this was primarily because it was so quickly resolved. My sincerely held view is that this project will be delayed for perhaps a year because of the ongoing consultation process on the southside. This is not about my constituency, Deputy Rock's constituency or the constituency of the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, who has joined us. It is about providing 10 million tourists with the opportunity to avoid our road system, which is a nightmare at the best of times. It is about encouraging investment in the corridors towards Dublin city centre and out towards the north county, where we have an abundance of developable lands for industry and housing and other ancillary tourist attractions. This is not about constituency politics at all; it is about a critical piece of national infrastructure being delivered on time, as the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, announced at Heuston Station in November 2015. I was there with him and was delighted to see the project start up at that point, but it has slipped. I do not want to see it slip any further. That is the purpose of this debate. This is not about constituency politics at all.

See this speech in context