Fianna Fáil's Dubin Charter The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, has denied that the Government is pursuing an anti-Dublin agenda in the decentralisation initiative.
At the publication of a Fianna Fáil "Dublin charter" as part of the party's local and European election campaign, Mr Cullen said that Dublin would not be undermined by the decentralisation plan.
"If someone is going to try and persuade me that taking 7,000 or 8,000 jobs out of Dublin or 10,000 jobs, when we're actually recreating as many as that as we're taking them out, is undermining Dublin, it's not. It's creating a balanced community. Not just for Dublin but equally for around the country as well."
The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, said that the decentralisation initiative was "entirely voluntary" and said people who did not move from Dublin would keep their State jobs without any loss of pay.
Mr Cullen claimed Fianna Fáil policies had transformed Dublin into a "vibrant, confident city" and described the Dublin of 20 years ago as a "stagnant backwater, not so much a capital city as feeder town for London, New York and Boston".
The 30-point Fianna Fáil plan for the city includes commitments to develop "business improvement districts" in the city centre; double the number of quality bus corridors; complete a national stadium at Lansdowne Road by the end of 2008; rebuild the Abbey Theatre; and complete a National Conference Centre in the city by the end of 2007.
Fianna Fáil described the business improvement district scheme as a partnership arrangement between stakeholders in a designated area in which the local business community would make voluntary contributions to pay for additional services, facilities and amenities.
The party said it would ensure that local authorities in Dublin "keep land free for primary and post-primary schools alongside new housing developments".
The party also promised to tackle drug abuse "through a combination of prevention, treatment and strong law enforcement".
It said a new school attendance service would be prioritised in areas of particular disadvantage and promised legislation to regulate apartment management companies, particularly in the area of management fees.
The plan also includes a promise to establish a Greater Dublin Land Use and Transport Authority "with a strong mandate to bring greater focus and better co-ordination" to land-use and transport issues generally.
Mr Brennan said the Government would soon finalise proposals for a metro. He cited the Government investment in the Luas system, which is nearly ready for operation, and pointed to the upgrade of the DART. He also cited development work on the Dublin Port Tunnel.
He attributed traffic gridlock to the growth in the number of cars as a result of the economic boom. There were only 200,000 cars on the roads in 1964. There would soon be two million cars in a State of 1.4 million homes.