Tom Morrissey (Progressive Democrats)

The Minister of State has been here a few times during the past 12 months and I welcome him here again to hear our discussion on transport. I plead with him to take into account that the Progressive Democrats believe there are too many agencies interlinking with the various local authorities in the transport area in Dublin. There are breakdowns in communication which lead to lengthy time spans for decisions to be made. The DTO is a policy driven body which issues policy to the various organisations. Often that policy is not taken into account and the strategy the office might propose is put to one side.

I ask the Minister to consider investment in rail, roads and underground as a transport system for Dublin. He should not just look at the argument that we should have a roads, rail or tram based transport system. There must be a link between all three. For too long we have had the argument of one versus the other and for far too long we have been caught up in a long decision making process as to which way we would go.

We hear much talk about the Red Cow roundabout and the traffic on the N7. I would like to bring it to the attention of the House that the peak traffic at the Red Cow roundabout is equivalent to the off-peak traffic at Scott's roundabout on the Navan Road, the N3. These are the NRA figures and should be a cause of concern for the way Dublin is developing. They would also be a grave cause of concern in regard to the imminent decision, which I hope will be soundly based, as to whether to upgrade the M50 to three lanes in both directions. That decision will come before the Minister very soon. Any work will cause grave disruption. Given the problems caused by Luas, people in those areas, especially the commuting public, will have to be told at an early stage what is involved in future transport networks in Dublin and the pain they will have to undergo. We cannot make any more decisions without telling the public in advance what is required. We need only recall the hysteria about the weekend closure of the southside DART service. If the DART has to be upgraded then so be it, the work is being carried out only at weekends and there is an alternative system of buses in place. We will have to take some pain over time. As the Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, said, we will have to give Luas a chance and see what happens. The overall benefit that Luas will bring will be equivalent only to the numbers carried on the 46A QBC at peak times. The extension of Luas to the docklands is worthwhile but future extensions should be deferred to ensure we see the merits of extending Luas further.