Compo crux in building of metro

UP to three years could be cut off the construction time of the €2bn Dublin metro, if the Government accepts a report to be published by the Taoiseach next month.

People who live above projects like a metro should not be given any compensation, according to the Joint Oireachtas Constitution Committee's report.

At the moment property owners here and in Britain also own all the space underneath their land.

The Constitution Committee's report is recommending that the right to compensation for property rights up to 10 meters below the surface should be removed.

“But if a person's property is damaged by the underground work then they should still be entitled to compensation for that,” says the report.

If the Government accepts these recommendations, the metro due to come to Cabinet shortly could proceed more quickly because none of the people living on the route between the airport and city centre would need to be consulted or compensated.

This would cut at least three years off the construction time and would not be delayed by the obstacles that bedeviled the Dublin Port Tunnel.