AGREEMENT ON FINGLAS LUAS CLEARS THE WAY FOR PROJECT CONSTRUCTION

‘Today’s decision to drop legal proceedings against the Luas Finglas extension puts the project on track’ - Paul McAuliffe TD

Today's meeting of the PP heard from An Taoiseach and those Minister's involved in last weeks negotiations regarding the details the €770m package which wil be voted on in the Dail this week.

The meeting also heard from elected members from across the country.

An Taoiseach said he fully recognised the anger and frustration of people dealing with increased costs, costs which had increased over several years as a result of different international incidents.

He said the right to protest was sacrosanct but blockading ports and refineries could not be allowed.

He added that the fundamental right to travel could not be limited by any group and people had to be able to access appointments, their prescriptions, cancer treatment and their place of work.

Taoiseach also emphasised that as an exporting nation we could not put at risk the hundreds of thousands of jobs that rely on access to our ports.

The Minister for Justice outlined that the use of the defence forces was regarding tow trucks which were in their control as private tow contractors were not available.

The meeting heard from elected reps across the country who commented on the many decent people who were also involved because of the impact fuel costs have on their families, their contracting or haulage business.

The Members also spoke of how important it was to listen to the concerns of the representative groups to prevent other agendas taking over .

There was unamimity that the party needed to deliver the commitments it made in the Programme for Government for Irish society as a whole.

Much more can be achieved by a constructive and cohesive approach .

Paul McAuliffe, TD for Dublin North West, has today welcomed confirmation from the Minister for Transport, Darragh O’Brien, on a positive resolution to legal proceedings for the planning of the Luas Finglas extension.

The project, which McAuliffe has long campaigned for, is now expected to proceed as planned following the dropping of High Court challenges against An Coimisiún Pleanála’s grant of permission for the 4km extension of the Luas Green Line.

Commenting on the decision, Deputy McAuliffe said: “I welcome today’s resolution around the dropping of High Court challenges against the Finglas Luas extension and I thank all of those who have reached a mutual agreement. This is fantastic news for our community and especially those who have long campaigned for this project.

The confirmation that the project now has full planning permission will mean that the Luas Finglas is back on track and construction ready.

I hope that it can now proceed as planned. Dublin North West is in great need of faster connections to the City Centre. It remains one of the few constituencies in the country that is not served by a rail service and so we are entirely reliant on local bus services.”