Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 21 Jun 1994

Vol. 444 No. 1

Written Answers. - Dublin Transportation Initiative.

Ivor Callely

Ceist:

12 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for the Environment the progress that has been made on the recommendation in the Dublin Transportation Initiative report of a port access route; the estimated cost and time schedule for development of this route; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Liz McManus

Ceist:

15 Ms McManus asked the Minister for the Environment his views on the recommendations contained in the draft final report of the Dublin Transportation Initiative; if any timetable has been set for the implementation of these recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

69 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment the present state of the proposal to construct a port access route starting from Whitehall Church and tunnelling through part of the area to give access to the port via Fairview; whether the Government has approved this project in principle; the estimated cost of the project; and the likely phasing of the work.

Minister for the Environment (Mr. M. Smith)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 15 and 69 together.

The National Development Plan endorsed the principal recommendations of the interim report of the Dublin Transportation Initiative, including the completion of the Dublin Ring Road, the construction of a light rail network, the introduction of Quality Bus Corridors and the improvement of traffic management.

I have only this week formally received the DTI final report. One of the recommendations of that report is that access to Dublin Port should be tackled by a combination of a truck management system (at an estimated capital cost of £6 million) and a single carriageway port access route — mostly in tunnel — from the North Port to the Airport Motorway at Whitehall (at an estimated capital cost of £82 million).

Decisions on this and the other DTI recommendations, and the timetable for their implementation, will have to await consideration of the report by the Government.