Within about six months the Exchequer will receive €14.1bn that’s been held in escrow after losing a court battle with the European Commission over the tax treatment of Apple. The government has not yet said what it intends to do with the money, but fears of stoking inflation are likely to deter it from using the windfall on day-to-day spending.
“I think we should invest it wisely in infrastructure,” said Mr O’Leary on Thursday following Ryanair’s annual general meeting.
“I’ve been calling for an infrastructure ministry to be set up. This week, we’ve seen the government squander €360,000 [it was actually €336,000] on a bike shed that doesn’t even keep the bicycles in Dáil Éireann dry. If I was given €13bn, I would be immediately starting an outer ring road.”
“If you look at Ireland in the next decade, the population’s going to grow from 5.5 million to probably 7 million people,” Mr O’Leary added. “Most of the houses are being built outside the M50 at the moment, around Dublin. The M50 is going to get choked. We need an outer ring road, outside the M50.”
The Ryanair chief said he would also be in favour of building a bridge across Dublin Bay, from Blackrock to Clontarf, completing a ring road around the capital which would relieve traffic congestion on the M50 and facilitate a growth in population.
He insisted that “unused cycle lanes” around Dublin should be removed and that car parking should be improved. Mr O’Leary suggested that underground carparks could be built beneath locations such as Merrion Square and St Stephen’s Green.
“We need to come up with a 10-year plan,” he insisted. “I would be moving Dublin Port, and building huge high-rises in [its place]. All the kids under the age of 30 or 35 do not want to live in Maynooth or in Kilcock – as beautiful as Maynooth and Kilcock may be. They want to live in the centre of town, in reasonable apartments, where they can all be at the centre of the action, whether it’s work or play, and we should be facilitating that.”
Mr O’Leary claimed that Ireland needs “effective solutions” and not “Green idiocy”.
“The Irish government and the Irish civil service is useless at delivering infrastructure,” he said, pointing to the expected €2.2bn final cost of the new national children’s hospital.
“What’s inherently wrong is that it’s delivered by government and civil service who you wouldn’t send out to buy a bag of sweets,” said Mr O’Leary.
“We need a Department of Infrastructure that actually commissions the private sector to deliver that kind of infrastructure efficient, quickly, and on time and on budget,” he suggested.
“We have lots of really good property developers in this country who are really good at delivering housing efficiently and affordably. I can think of nothing worse that a government building company.
“Governments do not deliver infrastructure. The private sector delivers infrastructure.”
