Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will comment on the roads aspect first and then on public transport projects. I agree with the Deputy that we need to have a pipeline of big public transport projects underway. We also need to ensure that as resources are available, and they are, we have projects that already have planning permission and are ready to go. I recollect the debate that I had with Deputy Ryan some years ago on the metro and the DART interconnector. He made the point then that what we should have done was move ahead on the planning process for one of those projects, even though the funding was not then available to deliver them. That is why I really hope that in debates now underway on BusConnects and the new metro that we will be able to have projects that will move through the planning process, and a whole cluster of them, and that they will be ready to go. Turning to the road projects, I differ with what the Deputy has said on that issue. There are road projects that are needed from a road safety and connectivity point of view. There is a very good case for those projects going ahead quickly.

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