Dublin city manager John Fitzgerald has warned that unless Government plans for a Dublin Transport Authority are changed, many major new housing developments may end up without adequate public transport.
Mr Fitzgerald said that the Government has consistently ruled out the transport body having any role in land use planning.
However, Mr Fitzgerald warned this might be a mistake. He said the Government had originally planned to introduce such an authority in Dublin with responsibility for both land and transport planning. This plan had been dropped in 2002.
"If we're now going to go back and reintroduce a second-tier authority I do think it would be unwise to go ahead and proceed without considering the necessity of amalgamating transport and land use as was envisaged in 2001," he said.
"If we go ahead with a simple transport authority, then I think it raises questions about how we integrate with the whole land use planning issue which has plagued the planning authorities since the early days of the State."