Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 524: To ask the Minister for Transport if a report has been issued by his Department in relation to submissions on the Kildare Route Project. [34356/06]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The report of the Inspector, Mr. Pat Butler S.C., of the public inquiry (24th January 2006-2nd February 2006.) in relation to the Railway Order for the Kildare Route Project was published on 23 May 2006.

It is available on the Department of Transport website at www.transport.ie and also from the Government Publications Office.

On the 13th August last, I announced my decision to grant the Railway Order for the Kildare Rail Project, in line with the recommendations of the Inspector.

In making my decision, I was obliged under Section 43 (1) of the Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Act 2001, to consider the report of the Inquiry as well as the submissions I received in respect of the project, CIÉ's application for a Railway Order, and the draft Order and documents that accompanied the application.

All of the submissions received in my Department were forwarded to the Public Inquiry. As part of the Inquiry, the Inspector considered these as well as additional submissions received by him, and his deliberations on all the submissions are documented in his report.

The draft Order is currently with the Office of the Attorney General for legal drafting.

When that process is complete, the Order will be submitted to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in relation to his consent for the provisions of the Order affecting roads, and I will sign the Order immediately thereafter.