Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

On behalf of Fianna Fáil I welcome what the Minister outlined today. I must refer to the Slane bypass, another issue of life and death. I welcome the Minister to the House. She is a most respected Minister. However, while I respect her I would prefer to see her constituency colleague, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar. He is obviously not available. That is no disrespect to the Minister, Deputy Burton. I am disappointed that he is not present because he said this morning on the radio that he is not prepared to meet residents in Slane either.

We all know what happened yesterday. Following on from the decision on the children's hospital, An Bord Pleanála has turned down an application by the State to build a bypass of Slane in County Meath. It has generally been agreed by people in the area, their elected representatives and successive Governments, that a bypass is required as an urgent matter of health and safety, life and death for the people of Slane village.

Unfortunately, An Bord Pleanála turned down the application on a number of grounds. I urge the Minister, the National Roads Authority, NRA, and Meath County Council to at the very least obtain legal advice on the pursuance of a judicial review into the decision. An Bord Pleanála has taken over the role of the Minister and the NRA on roads policy in terms of deciding whether a road is needed. It has taken into account aspects of the county development plan on Brú na Bóinne while ignoring specific objectives of said plan on the bypass of Slane. It allowed a bridge - a Senator suggested it should be the Mary McAleese bridge - to run right through the Brú na Bóinne site over where the battle of the Boyne took place and there was not a word about that, but now when health and safety is an issue at Slane, An Bord Pleanála has seen things differently.

It does not give confidence in the planning process when public projects are turned down while other private projects and various atrocities over the years have been approved by An Bord Pleanála. I urge the Minister to at least consider that. It is important that he does. He referred to a 90-day, three-month consultation period between the NRA and the various parties. If he waits three months it will be too late for a judicial review due to the tight timelines.

A number of other measures must be implemented as a matter of severe urgency. I call on the Minister to contact the Garda Commissioner about traffic in Slane. Last night on the news at 9 p.m. one could see lorry after lorry clearly breaching the speed limit in the village of Slane. It was outrageous to see that on television; multiple lorries breaching the speed limit and making a mockery of the 30 km/h speed limit that had been put in place in Slane to protect the safety and lives of people. I urge the Garda to take the issue seriously and to install speed cameras. I urge the Government to use whatever powers of persuasion it has over the Garda to ask it to prioritise enforcement. I also call for the introduction of measures from funds at the Minister's disposal to further alleviate traffic in Slane. The Minister must not waste the momentum and the money that has been spent in recent years on the planning application by simply abandoning the project. I am concerned by today's comments from the NRA that An Bord Pleanála has suggested a bypass might never be built. The NRA is correct in its interpretation but it added that we must accept the decision. I do not accept the decision. The Government must consider a judicial review in this case. I ask the Minister to at the very least consider it within the time limits that apply.