Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Brian Hayes for tabling this matter and giving me the opportunity to say a few words about Luas. I have listened carefully to what he said and I will insist on a number of free days being made available as requested. I will make a formal request to the RPA in that regard. The Senator is right in saying that the days of free celebratory travel were greatly welcomed today. It is appropriate that similar free days would be available when the second line opens at the end of August.

The congratulations offered are not so much due to me as to the Railway Procurement Agency and to all the local authorities, the Luas workers, the RPA chairman, Pádraig White, the chief executive, Frank Allen, the RPA board and all those who brought about the return of the trams to the streets of Dublin today. Special thanks are due to the Leader of the House, Senator O'Rourke, without whose central involvement we would not be introducing Luas today. She drove the project hard over many years and can take a great deal of the credit for bringing it to fruition.

There is a great sense of excitement about Luas. The line will carry 20,000 passengers, or approximately 8 million in any one year. The Sandyford line now has 13 stations. The Tallaght line will have 22 or 23 stations. In all, some 60,000 people will be transported daily through the suburbs to Dublin city centre. We are also looking at the possibility of a metro.

It is entirely appropriate that the same celebratory free travel days should be made available to the people on the second line, the Red Line, which will open at the end of August.