Vol. 485 No. 2
18 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she will now scrap the proposed examination by consultants of the underground option and expedite the project as proposed in view of the recent statement by Commissioner Wulf-Mathies that it was unlikely that work on an underground section for Luas could be under way before current Structural Fund commitments ran out; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22726/97]
At my recent meeting with Commissioner Wulf-Mathies, I reaffirmed the Government's commitment to the construction of a light rail system for Dublin.
The Government's decision to proceed with the independent consultancy study was designed to ensure that the facts were established in relation to the option of putting the city centre section of the light rail project underground. Nothing has changed in the intervening period which would lead to a reconsideration of that decision. The Government's key concern is to ensure that the right project for Dublin is constructed and any decision on this cannot be based solely on the availability of EU funding.
