James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I particularly welcome his comments on the metro, which is very important to us. However, we now have an opportunity for a more expeditious delivery time than the 2021 target, with money available from the European Investment Bank. I would like the Minister to make a plea at Cabinet for part of that funding to invest in metro. Metro is an ideal investment for the European Investment Bank because it will have a fair income stream from which to repay the loan. As other speakers said, it is also critical in meeting our environmental commitments because its energy requirement for electricity can be generated through many environmentally-friendly methods.

I refer to the importance of the metro to Dublin Airport, which has had nearly 27 million passengers in the past 12 months. This could be increased further with better connectivity to the city. More business opportunities will arise through Brexit, with many companies looking to Ireland as a place to do business with the EU now that the UK is leaving. There will also be opportunities for companies from many other countries that are seeking a platform into Europe. Their staff will be able to fly into Dublin, hop on a metro and get to their place of business in the city or at other locations throughout the country. I refer, in that regard, to the other investments which are in hand and to which the Minister referred in the context of DART underground and the electrification of the DART line to Balbriggan. This will allow tremendous opportunities for both business and local people, particularly our young population - it is the youngest in the country - to avail of the job opportunities and the educational facilities in Dublin.

As we attract more business, we will need more office accommodation. Dublin Airport already has a first-phase plan for 10,000 jobs and has 75 acres of land zoned for development that could accommodate many of these offices. Fingal is the obvious place if we need more land, as we obviously do, to house our current population and also new workers who will be coming to work here.

I also wish to touch on tourism. There is a real need for investment to provide a coastal walk along Fingal, from Portmarnock, through Malahide, Donabate, Rush, Loughshinny, Skerries and on to Balbriggan. That would be a huge boost for tourism with all the cafés and restaurants that would spring up along the route. It is something done widely across Europe. More importantly, as somebody who lives in Fingal and who is interested in health, I feel it would provide a safe place for families, parents and their children, to go cycling and walking. Although we have beautiful scenery in north County Dublin, it is very difficult to say it would be safe to cycle with young children on our roads. I appeal to the Minister to look at that.

I am very supportive of our bid for the Rugby World Cup. Irish people are very well known to be sports enthusiasts. Many people follow, rugby, Gaelic games and soccer, and are not cast in any one code. On sport, Fingal has led the way with many all-weather pitches being shared between the different codes.

There are job opportunities. There is a need to address our carbon emissions issue. The metro fits those. I appeal to the Minister to avail of the opportunity the European Investment Bank presents us in terms of investment in that project.