News

Taoiseach defends transport plans

Wednesday, 2 November 2005 23:00

The Taoiseach has accused critics of the Government's transport plan of being 'whingers' and 'begrudgers'.

Under the Government's transport plan that was announced yesterday, the capital is due to get more DART, LUAS and suburban rail services as well as two Metro lines.

Bertie Ahern insisted that detailed planning had been done on the projects included in the €34 billion plan.

During a stormy session in the Dáil, Opposition leaders claimed the plan was short on detail, and was merely a media exercise to get the Government out of its difficulties.

Fine Gael's Richard Bruton questioned when the Luas line to Lucan would open, how much the proposed Metro would cost and which projects would be carried out under Public Private Partnerships.

When he did not receive answers, he said the plan was an 'elaborate sham'. Mr Bruton added that the public could have no confidence in the new plan, as half the projects promised under the National Development Plan five years ago had not been completed.

Mr Ahern said the various agencies had used the same estimation procedures as had delivered 19 of the last 22 major projects on budget and on time.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, has predicted it will be only a matter of months before he introduces a high-powered executive body to drive forward public transport plans in Dublin.

Mr Cullen said a new agency was critical to ensure the plans became a reality.

When the minister introduced the plan yesterday, he said a single authority with real powers was needed in Dublin to ensure what he called 'joined-up thinking and delivery'.

He said the unstated danger was that the numerous bodies representing the different transport sectors could end up fighting each other, rather than delivering his big plan.

While Mr Cullen's speech only referred to bringing proposals to Cabinet at an unspecified time, he told last night's RTÉ Prime Time programme that the high-powered executive would happen within months.