I thank the House for giving me the opportunity to raise this issue. Yesterday's decision by the Supreme Court was an inevitable outcome following a succession of bad and conflicting decisions by various State authorities relating to the M50 motorway at Carrickmines. A number of questions arise. Why did Dúchas give its approval for removal works at Carrickmines Castle without the consent of the National Museum? Why did Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council fail to respond to the question put to it in September 2002? Why in the first instance was the wrong route selected for this motorway? It has resulted in a threat to an important medieval castle site at Carrickmines, has damaged Leopardstown Racecourse and compromised council housing land, at enormous cost to the taxpayer.
In 1992 the then Dublin County Council identified an alternative route for this motorway which was adopted by it at the time. An environmental impact study was, at the direction of the then Minister for the Environment, ordered on the route eventually chosen. If the route which had been identified by the county council in 1992 had been selected, Carrickmines Castle and Leopardstown Racecourse would not have been involved, the council would have been enabled to keep its housing land and, most importantly, the motorway, long overdue to the motorists and residents of this area, would have been built at considerably less cost to the taxpayer. The public wants answers as to what caused this problem as the motorway is delayed and the costs to the taxpayer are mounting.
Ultimately, responsibility for the Carrickmines debacle rests with the Minister for Transport who is not only responsible for the roads programme but also has local knowledge of the area. The Minister has, I know, been attempting since last summer to resolve the conflicting needs to preserve Carrickmines Castle and its environs and to build the motorway. He has clearly failed in his efforts and must now tell the House what steps he intends to take to resolve this impasse. Carrickmines Castle remains at risk and the motorway needs to be completed. How are both objectives to be met without construction being delayed and costs increased? The Minister must set out how these problems are to be resolved.
I draw the Minister's attention in that context to the proposal made by my colleague, Proinsias De Rossa, MEP, yesterday that the Minister should use the time given by the court to sit down with all the parties concerned, including the public authorities, Dúchas and the National Museum, and the people of Carrickmines to work out a solution which is acceptable to all concerned. Such a solution, if all interested parties are agreeable to it, would be unlikely to result in a further contest in the courts. It would give the Minister the necessary flexibility to vary the motorway order to allow the necessary engineering adjustments to be made to the motorway in the interests of avoiding further damage to Carrickmines Castle.
In any event, we now have an unusual situation. The medieval castle site at Carrickmines is at risk and a long overdue motorway has been delayed. Costs are mounting for the taxpayer and State authorities appear to be at sixes and sevens in relation to deciding what to do about it. Only the Minister for Transport can resolve this problem and I ask him to take the initiative in the form of the political steps that are necessary to bring this matter to a conclusion. He should not allow it to continue to be adjudicated on in the courts, a process which involves costs and delays and is not resolving the problem.
