There has also been available to Government an unprecedented level of resources. Double digit growth in the economy for most of the late 1990s made available resources which were simply never available to any of its predecessors. The fact that much of that money came from the German taxpayer is ironic because the average German is now rather less well-off than the average Irish person, albeit with much better public transport and other infrastructure available to him. There is no excuse for the utterly lamentable position in which the citizens of this city now find themselves. The average Dubliner, if he works in the city centre, will typically spend an hour or more in traffic every morning and another hour in the evening, with all the obvious consequences for his quality of life. It is not simply a matter of inconvenience; significant disadvantage to the economy of this city arises from the gridlock we experience on a daily basis. Surveys have shown that it takes longer in Dublin for goods to be transported from A to B, whether from the ports to the M50 or within the city, than in any other city of comparable size or population in Europe.