Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I would like to share my time with Senator Kitt. I welcome the Minister and commend him for grasping the nettle of this awful problem of the M50 tolling and the traffic jams there every evening. I have listened to this evening's debate and I like it when the Opposition takes over because it has all the answers. It has fantastic questions and answers.

When I was a member of the former Dublin County Council from 1991 to 1993 and a Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition was in control, no budget was provided for the lighting of the M50 and the toll plaza. Nothing has been said about that. When the deal was negotiated we had high unemployment and it was a good deal at the time. If the Opposition had been in Government it would have done the same. Liam Kavanagh was the Minister preparing these plans originally from 1984 to 1986. The Opposition should not pretend they know all the answers or that if it had beenin Government this situation would not have arisen. Nobody could have known by how much traffic would increase between 1995 and today. Only now do we see that we should have done it much earlier and we have now tackled the problem.

It is important to get the M50 upgrade right. We all know mistakes can be made but we must get it right. The Minister is right to establish this study with the NRA before we can come to any arrangements. I welcome the fact that all the stakeholders are involved in this approach. It is important that we include the Department of Transport, Dublin City Council, the National Roads Authority and the Dublin Port Company to ensure that all the agencies develop a co-ordinated traffic plan. That is the only way we can move forward to get it right.

We are sorting out the problems with the Red Cow roundabout. The only way is to take it slowly. There is no quick answer. If there were, does the Opposition think the Government would not have moved like a shot on it? One cannot do it immediately. There are legally binding agreements. The decision to end the tolling and establish a traffic study is positive. The public welcomes it and accepts that the decisions must be taken slowly. This operation cannot be fast-tracked. The Minister must go about his business despite criticism. He is doing a good job and I wish him well.