War of words over rejected Metro West
Dublin People 29 Oct 2011
GOVERNMENT coalition party representatives in Dublin
15 have dismissed a call from a Fianna Fail councillor to advance the Metro
West project to planning stage after the scheme was shelved indefinitely
earlier this month.
Cllr David McGuinness (FF) is calling on the
Government to advance the project to planning stage, but Minister for Transport
and Dublin West TD Leo Varadkar (FG) says there isn’t enough exchequer funds
for the multi-million euro scheme.
Minister Varadkar said he had asked the Railway
Procurement Agency (RPA) to withdraw a railway order it had made to An Bord
Pleanála for the metro project that was planned to run from Tallaght through
Blanchardstown and on to the airport.
He said the Government would not be able to borrow the
money required to complete the ambitious scheme, as well as other major
infrastructure projects, until the country’s finances improved significantly.
In addition, he said the development of new
communities that were originally envisaged along the route of the line had not
materialised.
In a statement following the minister’s announcement,
Cllr McGuinness described the decision to postpone the project as
“short-sighted and premature.
?
“Minister Varadkar’s comments about new communities
not having materialised will come as a huge surprise to his constituents in the
many new estates in Carpenterstown, Clonsilla, Ongar, Waterville and
elsewhere,
? he said.
“I would now call on Minister Varadkar to reconsider
this decision and allow the planning process to proceed to a shovel ready
status.
?
However, Patrick Nulty, new TD for Dublin West
dismissed calls to forward the project and he put the blame on Cllr
McGuinness’s Fianna Fail party for failing to deliver Metro West while they
were in Government during the boom years.
“Fianna Fail has absolutely no credibility whatsoever
in commenting on Metro West,
? he said.
“They had 13 years to build it while they were in
Government during the biggest economic boom in the history of the State and
they completely failed to do so.
“I think it is essential that we are realistic. If
Metro West is to be deferred it is not a good use of money to spend more money
on the planning process.
“It is important to remember that we are in the middle
of a very serious economic crisis and scarce resources are needed to be used to
protect frontline services and to consolidate our bus and rail network.
“The rail network in Dublin 15 has received
substantial upgrades in recent months.
?
Cllr Eithne Loftus (FG) is also backing the official
Government stance on the project.
“As Minister Varadkar has said, the Metro West project
was envisaged as a Public Private Partnership (PPP),
? she said.
“Implicit in this arrangement is that private funding
would have been required to fund the project. Due to the current economic
circumstances this was not possible. In fact, no major PPP project has been
realised since the downturn began.
?
But Cllr Ruth Coppinger (SP) described the
postponement of the project as
“another broken promise to west Dublin
communities
? and added that the move would deprive the area of jobs.
“Instead of paying the debts of bankers and speculators,
millions could be invested to get Metro West and Metro North underway, creating
thousands of jobs and providing much-needed public transport,
? she said.
“It is the austerity programme started by Fianna Fail
and now being clung to by this Government which is jeopardising the most
meaningful job creation project in west Dublin.
“During the boom, west Dublin took tens of thousands
of houses but never got the public transport needed. Whole communities have
been left isolated and dependent on a bus service that is being cut.
Blanchardstown now has over 100,000 people but no light rail system, Luas or
metro.
?
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