Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State. There is an urgency in moving ahead. There are major plans to develop the area. Finglas village will be redeveloped. Charlestown will be affected. A large number of apartments are being built across the area and the population is growing. I have dealt with metro north, in terms of the number of meetings I went to and the commitments that were made and broken, one after another - I must have attended 100 meetings over the years. I have attended a number of meetings in regard to the Luas. It bugged me when I saw a reference to potential completion by 2031. It does not sound like the project will be completed by 2031. I wish it was done earlier. I am afraid things will slip and the project will be dragged out.

The community gain is important. People have conceded a lot of space. The football pitches in Farnham will be affected, namely Erin's Isle and Rivermount. We need some community gain as a result. I spoke to the NTA about providing an all-weather pitch. If it is taking some pitches and part of the park it needs to reciprocate. That is important. The Government said this is a priority and it is in the NDP, which is fine, but it needs to move fast. We cannot sit back, which has happened before, while timeline after timeline disappears. I urge the Minister of State to push for the project because it is badly needed.

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