Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and compliment him on the Government's latest effort to resolve what is a very serious issue in Dublin city. The Minister of State has taken a fresh and detailed approach to the issue and carried out a considerable amount of work behind the scenes before launching the initiative. It is refreshing to know that, when he held the meeting, he was in a position to move on a significant number of the issues and gauge early winds on this initiative, which is critically important. His approach allows for the possibility of moving smaller individual projects ahead at a much faster rate rather than depending on the big bang or large project approach, which can often lose the interest or enthusiasm of people involved. However, the Minister of State is dividing the initiative into 34 or 36 different elements and there is an opportunity to win on a number of levels. There is also the opportunity to spread the elements over different sponsor groups and ensure they are finalised.

It is important to examine the problem in the city on a street by street basis to ensure best use of financial and infrastructural resources. By this stage, infrastructural resource means the width of streets, parking availability, proximity to public transport whether it is bus, Luas or train, and trying to put all of it together in a way that maps the needs of the people who use the city on a daily basis. While large scale projects such as the port tunnel, Luas, the extension of DART services, the upgrade of the intercity trains and the extension of commuter train services are excellent in terms of what they deliver, they tend to examine matters on a macro level. Now, the Minister of State is examining the facilities and resources present and ensuring we are sweating the asset, as the old adage goes, to its greatest possible use. It is finite in terms of how far it can be taken and the extent to which improvements can be made but the Minister of State is taking the right approach.

I disagree with Senator Paddy Burke that this issue is all about money and we may one day debate how the Opposition would raise the money he believes is needed, be it via increased taxes or whatever. How we use and manage our resources is what we should concentrate on and I am sure the Minister of State's group will do so.