Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The National Transport Authority announced the greater Dublin transport strategy yesterday. It represents a huge blow to the people of the greater Dublin area and what appears to be an abandonment of our emissions targets in the transport area, as set out in the climate action plan. It was particularly devastating for the north side of Dublin because of the further long fingering of MetroLink. I represent Dublin north west, which is the only constituency in the greater Dublin area without any rail service at all. We are entirely dependent on a bus service, which is not capable of meeting the demand from commuters. Large numbers of people have no choice but to get into their cars and drive. Dublin north west is sandwiched between the city centre and Fingal, an area which has seen its population grow by 41% in a 20-year period and it is continuing to grow.

Many residents in Fingal, too, have no choice but to get into their cars to drive because of the inadequate capacity in the public transport system. On top of all of that is the airport, where passenger numbers reached 33 million in 2019. We are the only European capital without a rail link to our airport. All of that adds up to a situation where there is near gridlock for most of the day on most main roads on the northside of Dublin. There is seldom a morning when the Swords Road at Whitehall is not referenced in the traffic reports.

In the 1990s, we were promised a northside Luas line. It never materialised. The metro was first announced in 2001. The Taoiseach’s late colleague, Séamus Brennan, told us that the metro would be open in 2007. We are now on our third iteration of the metro. There have been several rounds of detailed consultation with residents on the northside of Dublin. Hundreds of meetings have been held. Thousands of leaflets have been distributed. Hundreds of millions of euro have been spent on planning and design work. Yesterday the bombshell was dropped that it will be more than ten years, and possibly up to 20 years, before there is any prospect of the metro opening. Yet again, and for the third time, people are being marched to the top of the hill. It is beyond belief that it was a Green Party Minister for Transport who flagged the fact that this project, and indeed DART+, would not go ahead. I ask the Taoiseach what he is saying to the people of the northside of Dublin now?

See this speech in context