I want to put on the record my preliminary observations on the plan by the Office of Public Works, OPW, to carry out major work in the Phoenix Park. The OPW does tremendous work and I have huge admiration for it. It has done a great job in conserving the Phoenix Park and making sure it has not degraded. I have no problem with the building of a bridge over to the Islandbridge war memorial, which is one of the proposals, but the very idea of a funicular railway into the Phoenix Park is misconceived. Part of the attraction of the Phoenix Park is that it is, in some sense, a relic of the 18th and 19th centuries, part of the former Irish Raj in which big residences were plonked around the enormous campus.

Wonderful. What an era.

Part of the character of the Phoenix Park is that a lot of the land is unused or underused, creating its own attractions. There are places where deer can go, far away from funicular railways and such things.

There is no hill for a funicular railway.

The zoo has not sprawled all over the park but has expanded into lands beside Áras an Uachtaráin. The magazine fort, which I walked around on one occasion when it was carelessly left open, is decaying completely in front of our eyes but it could be a military museum or something like that. Allowing it to degrade any further would be a big mistake.

As somebody who loves the Phoenix Park, all of its memorials and big houses and the castle in it, I believe we should be very slow to turn it into something it is not, namely, a kind of Disneyland amusement park. I do not think it needs a funicular railway or novelties of any significance. While the OPW should be thanked for thinking of different ways to view its future, it should be warned off the more exotic plans it has on this occasion and asked to take a conservative view of the park.

As there are no other speakers offering, I call on the Deputy Leader to conclude.