Madam, - Now that Minister Seamus Brennan has publicly acknowledged that the M50, and in particular the Red Cow roundbout, is a "mess", perhaps it is time to rethink the grandiose NDP Roads Programme and instead implement the more realistic recommendations of the National Roads Authority Roads Needs Study.
This recommended upgrading our existing roads together with urban bypasses for economic and environmental reasons.
Experience in other countries (particularly the UK) proves beyond doubt that the more new roads you build the more cars you encourage onto those roads, further exacerbating traffic congestion in towns and cities. The Government here seems hell bent on following the mistakes of other countries by creating a car-dependent society.
The estimate for the NDP roads programme has already climbed from €5.9 billion to €16 billion. Yet only €825 million was allocated to public transport outside Dublin.
Rail transport is the safest and potentially the most efficient form of transport but it has been almost completely ignored by this Government.
The Kyoto Protocol, which Ireland signed, gives us another reason why we should invest more money in public transport. We are allowed to increase our greenhouse gas emissions by 13 per cent over the 1990 level up to 2012.
However, we are now running at 39 per cent over the 1990 level. If this trend is not reversed we will face penalties running to hundreds of millions of euro.
Future generations will not thank us for making a mess of our transport system and destroying our environment while squandering billions in taxpayers' money.
We must act now before it is too late. - Yours, etc.,
PATRICK DOYLE,
Mount Pleasant Square,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.