The succession of media stories in recent days indicating the transport investment preferences of Minister Noel Dempsey bode ill for those parts of the country which had been consistently left behind in the last National Development Plan.

This was stated by Marian Harkin MEP when she described the expressed preferences of Minister Dempsey as an agenda to be rubber stamped by decisions of the Special Group on Expenditure Programmes (An Bord Snip).  “When Minister Dempsey describes the proposed rail tunnel in Dublin as the ‘most critical piece of infrastructure’ for public transport in the state, the question arises as to what value for money analysis has justified this view and what mandate has been given to the new body charged with such analysis”, she said.

Consistent bias had been shown in transport investment to the Dublin region in the 2000-2006 National Development Plan and recent indications were that the same pattern would continue in the current plan, she said.

She called on the economic and social interests of the North & West European Parliament constituency to urgently convene to discuss existing transport deficiencies in the region in order to prioritise essential infrastructural needs.  “If this is not done and the outcome transmitted effectively to An Bord Snip and Government, there is little doubt but that so- called value for money decisions will be taken which will further widen the competitiveness gap between the Dublin region and the counties of the North and West constituency”, Marian Harkin MEP said.