James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the commitment of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to both the DART underground and the metro. The increasing traffic in Dublin and other urban areas is a real sign of our economic recovery - a recovery that we want spread to every household. As I mentioned the other day when discussing Brexit on the Order of Business, the issue is a great challenge, but there are opportunities. It makes connectivity from Dublin airport into town all the more important. One study showed an increase of 40,000 per annum in the number of cars coming into the city in the coming years. There is a wonderful opportunity to avoid all that if metro proceeds expeditiously. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, was mentioned. As the previous Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport he gave a commitment that work on metro would commence by 2021. I can understand the Senator's sense of urgency around both of these big projects - they are massive - but they have to be done properly. There are procurement orders, planning issues and many other logistical and legal issues to be resolved. Much of the work has been done but a new order had to be achieved to take the new route and to reduce the cost. I believe this is a critical piece of infrastructure, particularly given Dublin Airport's plans to provide accommodation for businesses that want to locate here. It had one building and refurbished one floor, but ESB International came along and took the entire building. There is huge demand and appetite for developments in this area. Fingal County Council has the largest green area in the city, with plenty of land rezoned to afford opportunity for further development. We have the youngest population in the country, if not in the EU. We also have a very diverse population, as evidenced by Loreto Convent when it won the Young Scientist exhibition and the young ladies who achieved such great acclaim and achievement in doing that.

The metro is hugely important. I do not have a problem with keeping the project alive rather than developing it aggressively when there is very little money available. However, we have more money now, so that situation should not pertain. When I was at Cabinet I fought to keep it alive because it was in danger of being taken off the table entirely. I am pleased that it is still there and I am very pleased the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport saw fit to mention it.

I will finish by speaking on the matter of procurement. We brought in new systems which have been of great advantage to the taxpayer but we have to be careful not use them in such a blunt way that we put out of business many smaller suppliers and retailers of books in the SME area.