It is scandalous that property owners in Dublin have been forced to pay millions of euro for the proposed Metro North rail project even though the project has not gone ahead. Since 2007 property owners within 1km of the proposed Metro North from St Stephens Green to Dublin Airport have been forced to pay more than €19million as a supplementary levy for the Government abandoned Metro North project. The Metro North Levy without the Metro North project is counter productive to Dublin’s development. It is extremely damaging for the Government to be taking millions of euro out of productive circulation, adding extra and unnecessary costs which discourage development. As a Dublin City Councillor I repeatedly raised this issue and tried to get the levy scheme suspended. I recently called on the Minister for Transport Paschal Donohoe to clarify his departments current intentions with regards the Metro North Project. I asked him to indicate what funding if any his department has made and will make available for the project and within what timescale he expects it to be operational ? In the event funding is unavailable to progress the project I urged him to make that clear to the relevant Local Authorities and advise them to arrange for the Metro North Levy Scheme to be suspended and the €19million already collected under the levy scheme returned to those who had already paid. Hopefully the Minister will find some time in his busy media schedule to address this issue soon.
New National Drugs Strategy
Minister for Drugs Jennifer Murnane O’Connor recently updated me in Seanad Eireann on the new national drugs strategy. Her new strategy is designed to respond to the significant changes in drug-use patterns in Ireland and to ensure equitable access to services across the country. The draft strategy proposes five strategic
