Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is not saying that we cannot go left or right. We even looked at an example as well as a corollary in the notion - which I still think is necessary for this city - of providing an underground train from the city centre out to the airport. In doing that we looked at every person who has a house, a barn or a commercial building from here to the airport. Every person who owns a piece of property owns the land right down to the core of the earth and the air up into the sky as far as possible, even going down 5,000 feet. We looked at the possibility that, like in Spain and other countries, the amount of territory under the house that is part of the property - subject to doing no structural damage - should be no more than ten metres. All these possibilities can be done.

It is not my style to be in any way derogatory against the Minister, Deputy Kelly, or the Minister of State, Deputy Coffey, but I must put on record that this provision in the Bill about a plebiscite, however well meant, is a political manoeuvre. It is intended to indicate to the thousands of people that have not alone e-mailed and phoned us but have come out and marched. That is probably 250,000 people altogether, the biggest movement since Daniel O'Connell back a couple of hundred years ago. By ignoring that the Government is saying look, this is going to satisfy them, it has already been seen to. The Government is under the impression that by putting this section 2 into new legislation it will ease the minds of lots of people. I think it is disingenuous and that the Government should go back. This was not agreed by the Dáil, it was agreed because the guillotine was used. It was forced on the Dáil; Members had to come in and the Whip was cracked. As a member of a party I know that feels and I know how it feels to break it as well.