Sargent backs Portmarnock protest group over runway

Portmarnock protest group, Uproar has been given further backing for its campaign against the second parallel runway at Dublin Airport by the Minister for State for Food and Horticulture.

Minister for State, Trevor Sargent TD has written to the Finance Minister, Brian Cowen TD to ask that a full cost-benefit analysis of the runway project be carried out.

A full cost-benefit analysis of the project itself and the land that will be used for the project is something that Uproar has been asking for since the beginning of its campaign.

Minister Sargent wrote to the Finance Minister on October 25th and asked him to clarify whether Government rules on weighing the costs and benefits of major projects applied to the proposed new runway.

In his letter, Minister Sargent says that a cost benefit analysis is needed for the project that would 'quantify the value of the public land asset earmarked for the proposal'.

He said the government must also weigh the cost for the country in terms of further congestion in the Greater Dublin Area and the cost for areas like Shannon who will see further economic activity concentrated on the east coast at its expense.

The letter states:

'Can I ask that no government decision be taken on the proposed runway at Dublin Airport until a full cost-benefit analysis of the project is undertaken by all declared stakeholders, particularly Government?'

A spokesperson for Uproar told the Fingal Independent that the response to Minister Sargent's letter will be an important test of the Government's real commitment to its own 'value for money' policy as reiterated in the Programme of Government 2007'.

Fingal Independent