Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Senator Bacik's response to the Guerin report. It is interesting that the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, is coming here this afternoon. At a very early stage, he called Sergeant McCabe and Garda Wilson "distinguished" rather than the other "D" word. I believe the Minister was right. The whistleblowers are completely vindicated by the Guerin report.

I want to express concerns about some of the findings in the energy Green Paper published yesterday. We see on page 4 of the summary that energy prices in Ireland rose since 2007 by 29% compared to the OECD-Europe average of 20%, so we are rising 50% faster. We see later in the report that one of the fastest rises in prices found anywhere was for industrial electricity in Ireland, which rose by 80% since 2007. We need to urgently debate the issues. I am not satisfied the energy Green Paper is half radical enough to deal with the institutions and the policies which have led us to the sorry state I have described in regard to energy costs escalating out of control. There is a complacency there which has to be shaken.

I note that 5,000 home and business owners in the centre of Dublin are being sent letters by Irish Rail about the underground DART project. There is almost a Guerin echo in that. The underground DART project has not been sanctioned by the Cabinet or the Parliament yet Irish Rail is writing letters to people saying it would like to acquire their properties in order to implement a €2 billion project. I believe Parliament has to assert itself against people sending those kinds of letters. I gather the intention with the project is to permanently acquire the north-west corner of St. Stephen's Green and to acquire a significant amount below ground level along King Street South, St. Stephen's Green North and down as far as George's Street, as well as underneath the Guinness brewery.

If one wants to go by rail from Heuston Station to Connolly Station, the Minister is joining the two Luas lines and, in any case, it is possible to do it on the existing Luas line. There is also a railway line that goes through Cabra and under the Phoenix Park, which means that if the tunnel engineers in CIE like tunnels, there is one already there, so they can satisfy themselves. However, to be sending the public letters about a project which has not been sanctioned either by the Cabinet or by the Parliament seems to call for a response from the Minister.