Grave reservations about the economic implications of including an underground section in the proposed Luas light rail system for Dublin were voiced during a crucial three-hour Cabinet debate on Tuesday.
However, in spite of serious qualms - particularly on the part of the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy - the memorandum circulated to Cabinet by the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, went through largely unaltered.
The long-awaited plan was propelled through Cabinet mainly by Ms O'Rourke, supported by the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, whose Progressive Democrats have made the underground segment of rail-line a cornerstone of their transport policy for Dublin. Apart from those two Ministers, it is understood that a clear majority at Cabinet would have been satisfied to accept a fully on-street system.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, who last week discussed the proposals in detail with Ms O'Rourke and Ms Harney, is understood to have ` `stood back" during Tuesday's lengthy debate. However, the expansion of the plan to incorporate Ballymun, the airport, Connolly Station and the docklands certainly had his imprimatur.
Not surprisingly, the most serious disquiet emerged from Mr McCreevy, who had no objections to an integrated light rail system but was deeply worried about the funding arrangements. He was unhappy at the use of general figures like the £400 million-plus suggested by the Minister for Public Enterprise.
The absence of specific plans, viability studies, geological surveys and detailed budgetary layout is understood to have caused him considerable angst. Similar concerns were voiced by other Ministers, including the Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, and the Chief Whip, Mr Brennan.
Queries were raised about the wisdom of including a one-mile stretch of underground in 20 miles of overground rail-line on the basis of the enormous extra cost involved and the inevitable delays in completing the project. The "minimalist line", avoiding an underground, found favour with a number of Ministers.
Doubts were also raised about the effective rejection of the main recommendation of the W.S. Atkins study - published last week - that CIE should be allowed to proceed as planned with an on-street Luas. What was the point in commissioning a £200,000 report if its main suggestion was to be shelved?
The next round of EU funding runs out after 2006 so the government of that day is unlikely to be able to draw down money for the project. "There was a view that we should proceed without delay in getting the £114 million in EU allocation for the CIE proposal," one source said.
Ms O'Rourke has accepted that the EU allocation would not be spent on the project because of the delays in redesigning the plans but insisted the money will not be lost to Ireland.
Trenchantly supporting the idea of an underground, the Tanaiste could watch with some satisfaction as her party's policy on the light rail system was taken on board by her Cabinet colleagues. The Progressive Democrats drew up their public transport policy last March and were determined to see the inclusion of an underground, in view of what the party saw as the "huge disruption" involved in constructing the on-street system in the centre of Dublin.
"This was a Government decision," a PD spokesman said last night. "We don't want to gloat. We are not in that business but we think the plan, as adopted, is the best for the city and a hell of a bold decision by the Government."
According to the party, their view was merely a pragmatic response to the needs of Dublin since an overground project would mean digging up the city centre for several years. Like Ms O'Rourke, sources hotly denied they had succumbed to commercial pressures.
On the positive side, Ministers were receptive to the idea that the rail plan had been extended to include all sides of the city. A plethora of judicial reviews - in addition to a public inquiry - would ensure that the project could be delayed for years, one source said. Notwithstanding his reservations, the Minister for Finance and other doubting colleagues went ahead with a plan which was, on the day, "driven by the two Marys".