Joe O'Toole (Independent)

The question was raised yesterday with the Leader about the importance of having another transport debate. I am sure she will confirm that prior to Christmas we decided to have two debates on transport; one on transport in the Dublin area, which we had and the other on transport issues elsewhere in the country. We should have that as soon as possible.

A report was carried out on the Dunboyne rail link, which most of us believe should be the Navan rail link. We should make clear our position on that issue. We also await a report on the western rail corridor. This ties in with the point made by Senator Burke on the BMW region. It is an important issue. The Shannon rail link also needs to be debated.

Senator Morrissey raised the important issue yesterday of an outer ring road for Dublin, following on from the Taoiseach's reference to such a proposal. This would be of great importance for transport to and from the city and the matter should be discussed. We have a good opportunity to discuss these projects now before they move on and wrong decisions are taken, for example, on the western rail corridor, ending the train line at Dunboyne or in regard to an outer ring road around Dublin. These are crucial issues on which there is a significant degree of consensus on both sides of the House. I ask that we would deal with this promptly.