Within one day of publication of the Oscar Faber report, which cleared the way at EU level for the construction of the Tallaght-Dundrum light rail line, the Deputy is calling for yet another study. Oscar Faber spent the last four months studying the proposals for a light rail line to Tallaght and Dundrum. That report confirmed the wisdom of the Government's proposals to proceed with Tallaght-Dundrum as the first phase, proposals which were announced by the current Fianna Fáil leader when he was Minister for Finance. No sooner has that report been published than we are being urged to start another. This time we are being asked to revisit the decision to opt for an on-street system. There is such a passion for studies by Deputies on the other side of this House that they seem prepared to postpone action indefinitely while study after study takes place and the traffic gets worse.
It is not as if the underground issue has not already been looked at in two separate reports. The recent report prepared for CIE was the second one to recommend against the underground option for Dublin. Many people tend to overlook the fact that the Dublin Transportation Initiative also recommended against an underground DART option on the grounds that it would not make economic sense. The DTI also rejected the underground option because it did not fit in with its overall vision for Dublin which sees a sharing of road space by various types of traffic and emphasises the movement of people rather than vehicles. Indeed it is interesting to contrast the DTI's vision of Dublin with the Deputy's vision. The DTI vision is one in which Dublin will be a cleaner, calmer, safer and more attractive place to live and work in, or visit. The Deputy's vision would mean that the car would continue to dominate our citystreets and noise, pollution and accident levels would continue to rise inexorably.
Earlier this year, given the number of questions raised during the public consultation process, the Minister, Deputy Lowry, asked CIE to have the underground options evaluated further. The results of this evaluation were published last August. As the Minister pointed out during Question Time last Thursday, the evaluation identified the additional cost of putting light rail underground in the city centre as being in the range from £124 million to £300 million, depending on the length of the tunnelled section. He said then, and I repeat, that these findings confirm that the strategic and cost advantages of an on-street light rail system make this the best option for Dublin.
In addition to the technical studies, an MRBI market research survey commissioned by the CIE project team indicated that 64 per cent preferred on-street light rail as against 26 per cent for underground. Some 60 per cent cited violence, danger and the concern for personal safety as the main reasons for not having an underground system. There is, therefore, a perception that an underground would be less safe from a security and crime perspective, especially at night.
Given all this, I was bemused that the Deputy decided to raise the underground issue yet again. Indeed I am at a loss to understand what the Deputy believes yet another study into the underground option will achieve. It is becoming clearer all the time that there appears to be one fundamental difference between the approach to the light rail project advocated by him and that promoted on this side of the House. We are committed to taking definite action quickly to alleviate Dublin's chronic and worsening traffic congestion whereas the Deputy is committed to little more than navel gazing — some might say he has tunnel vision.
Now that the EU Commission has confirmed its support for the Tallaght-Dundrum route and indicated that it will also support the Ballymun route, every effort must be concentrated on delivering that project. The CIE project team must get on with finalising its application for the necessary statutory powers. The choice now is between debate and delivery. It is worth recalling that the transport strategy recommended by the DTI, of which an on-street light rail network is a critical part, has been accepted by this Government and the last Government. That strategy is soundly based. Its findings in relation to the underground option have been upheld by a second report.
I am sure many people will be disappointed that a former Minister for Transport understands so little about the seriousness and complexity of transport in Dublin. He has already suggested that the light rail routes should be built only as far as the canals——
