Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I fully agree; nothing should hold it up. We should, at real speed, look at those other options. I take some comfort from the Taoiseach saying the Government is willing to do that and that with respect to the comment by the Minister, Deputy Ross, to the effect that he would not countenance that proposal and that it would not be happening, nothing else happening is not the final word.

That area in Rathfarnham and beyond to Knocklyon and Firhouse is very badly served by public transport and as there is large-scale development happening in the area, those people deserve a first class public transport system. The advantage of running to UCD is that we could have a whole series of station stops where development is going to occur anyway. To put the stations in at the same time as the foundations are being poured makes real sense as the numbers would be huge straightaway and it solves the problem of capacity on the green line.

It is a statutory process. We do not want to run the NTA's business. It has to do the proper engineering analysis and this has to be done in the end with best transport engineering. Where is the best place for us to have that civil debate? It is not just obsessing about south Dublin, but south Dublin happens to be the issue before us and is where we will have a tunnelling machine coming across the Liffey. We need to know what to do. Are we best to give our advice to the Joint Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport or directly to the NTA? How do we engage with the Government so the options suggested here today can be considered in a rational, reasoned and ambitious way?

See this speech in context