Vol. 472 No. 5
4 Mr. S. Brennan asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he favours putting the city centre part of the Dublin light rail underground in view of traffic chaos in Dublin city and the fact that the Luas plans were drawn up on the basis of car traffic projections which are out of date. [23619/96]
I have followed with interest the debate which has taken place on light rail during the public consultation process. That debate has been both useful and enlightening but I hope the time is now ripe to move on to the decision-making phase. The CIÉ project team should be given the time and space to complete its consideration of the issues raised during the consultation process and to decide on the detailed shape and form of its formal application for a light railway order to construct the Tallaght to Dundrum line.
The Transport (Dublin Light Rail) Act, 1996, provides for full and effective public involvement in the statutory decision-making process. People will be able to make written objections to the formal CIÉ proposals. A mandatory public inquiry will be held which will provide the forum for an open, independent, robust and objective scrutiny of the CIÉ proposals, during which people will be able to make oral submissions on matters of concern to them.
Before I make a decision on CIÉ's application for the necessary powers, I will be obliged to take account of the inspector's report on the public inquiry and any written submissions made to me. I do not intend to prejudice my eventual decision on the CIÉ application by commenting on detailed issues relating to the light rail proposal. I will weigh all these matters carefully in the light of the evidence placed before me in my quasi-judicial capacity.
That amazing reply is clearly the start of a most welcome U-turn. I asked the Minister if he favoured putting the city centre part of the Dublin light rail underground and he said it was time to move on to the decision-making phase. The Minister of State and Deputy Lowry repeatedly told me in the House that I was holding up the process by proposing that the centre city part of the Dublin light rail should be put underground, that there was a fundamental difference between me and them on this point and that a study on my proposal would be a waste of time. The Minister said he would await a submission from CIÉ before deciding——
Questions, please.
The Minister's predecessor took the view that putting the city centre part of Luas underground was out of the question and he refused to commission an independent study. Does the Minister support that view?
I am pleased that the Deputy is amazed and not disappointed.
I am working on some other descriptions.
I might get the Deputy thinking. There are several more stages to be gone through and all of the submissions which can conceivably be made can be made to the public inquiry — they will all have to be taken into account.
On the questions of CIÉ, I invite the Deputy to consider what I said, that is the CIÉ project team should be given the time and space to decide on the detailed shape and form of its formal application for a light railway order. This is entirely a matter for the project team. Once the application is made I will have to consider it. There must also be a public inquiry. There is plenty of room in this process to explore all these issues. At the end of the day it will fall to me, in my quasi-judicial capacity, to make a decision on these matters. It would be wrong of me to prejudice, prejudge or pre-empt any decision I might make.
That is a clear change of policy by the Cabinet of whom Deputy Lowry was a member. The Minister's predecessor was adamant that the city centre part of Luas should be overground and thought that anyone who took a different view was living in the past and trying to delay setting up the system. The Minister will wait until the options are put to him before deciding, in his quasi-judicial capacity, on whether the city centre part of Luas should be put underground. I welcome this change of heart by the Minister as I am in favour of putting this part of Luas underground if we can afford it.
The only study on the possibility of putting part of Luas underground has been carried out by CIÉ consultants. I have asked that an independent study on the cost of the underground option for Dublin city centre be carried out quickly. Will the Minister commission a quick study, independent of CIÉ, on the possibility of putting this part of Luas underground in view of the horrendous traffic problems in the city centre?
I have no proposals to commission a new study in the context of this procedure.
I am disappointed.
I am scoring consistently in the disappointment stakes.
The Minister is scoring ten out of ten.
The Deputy is in a terrible fix.
