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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 11 Nov 1999

Vol. 510 No. 5

Housing, Planning and Transportation: Statements (Resumed).

Prior to the adjournment I was discussing the Fine Gael plan to 2011. We must try to reduce the damage done to health and life by excessive commuting by motor car. The World Health Organisation recently found that the long-term exposure of adults to car fumes caused more premature deaths per year from respiratory or heart ailments than car accidents. Studies have also found that diesel fuels do twice as much health damage per litre as leaded petrol and eight times as much as unleaded petrol.

The number of road accidents in Ireland is of extreme concern. Some 500 people, mostly young adults, die on our roads each year. This is three times the Swedish rate of road accidents per 100,000 cars. The experience in Sweden shows that tough enforcement of anti-speeding and anti-drink driving laws can dramatically reduce road deaths. A recent survey, entitled "Social Attitudes to Traffic Risk in Europe", showed that 80 per cent of Irish drivers believed they had zero chance of being caught if they broke the speed limit, whereas only 30 per cent of British drivers thought they had zero chance of being caught. This explains why half of all our road accidents are caused by speeding.

Is it any wonder our roads are overcrowded with cars when people are financially penalised for using public transport? In the past 15 years rail fares have increased by 31 per cent and bus fares by 59 per cent, whereas the cost of petrol used in cars has increased by only 16 per cent. Public transport has become more expensive while private transport has become cheaper. Because the Minister for Public Enterprise ref uses to recognise the social role of bus services, she is forcing Dublin Bus to increase fares by a further 10 per cent. That explains why we have traffic jams. We should set a national target for the next 20 years to ensure that bus and train fares are kept at half the rate of increase in the consumer price index and well below any increase in petrol and private motoring.

Keeping bus and train fares low is also a key part of any programme to combat poverty and social exclusion. To do this, we must accept that bus fares should be subsidised. Urban bus services are heavily subsidised in most other developed countries. Dublin Bus receives only 3.38p in State subsidy per passenger journey, which is one of the lowest rates of subsidisation in the developed world. We should increase the rate of subsidy to Dublin Bus to 5p per passenger journey, provided certain conditions are met. CIE should adjust its fare structures to provide substantial financial incentives to encourage people to buy a single ticket for multiple journeys and to combine bus and train tickets.

One of the conditions should be that blocks of bus routes, combining profit and loss making routes, should be franchised out to the private sector. The private sector should be systematically invited to provide services where Bus Éireann does not already do so. A good example is the new privately run bus routes in Naas which have been a great success. It should also be a condition that more late night services are provided in the city. A similar performance-related subsidy should be offered to Bus Éireann for services in cities, such as Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway, and for inter-city services.

Dublin urgently needs more taxis. Fine Gael believes the number of taxis in Dublin should be doubled over the next 12 months and increased by 50 per cent by next May before the tourist season begins. It is also essential that hackneys are allowed to use bus lanes since they will carry external identification from March 2000. The necessary regulations should be introduced at once to allow hackneys to use bus lanes from that date.

The Government's failure to provide proper housing is dramatic. Its much heralded temporary sewerage facilities have not been provided for 16,000 homes. An Bord Pleanála is still working at an extremely slow rate. The measures to increase housing density have not been implemented. Fine Gael believes the housing problem can only be solved in conjunction with a solution to the traffic problem. If we can provide efficient and fast public transport, we will be able to provide housing for everyone in places convenient to their work.

It must be recognised that those with low to medium incomes will need some form of State subsidisation or financial help if they are to house themselves. At present, a garda who is married to a nurse cannot afford to buy their first house in Dublin, yet they have above average incomes. Where will people whose incomes are below average be able to buy a house? The role of local authorities in the provision of social housing is crucial. In 1999 local authorities were provided with funds to build 4,500 local authority houses, but there were 46,000 families on local authority waiting lists. It will be ten years before existing applicants are provided with houses, not to mention the new applicants who will seek housing in the next ten years.

It is no wonder low income families are faced with a major problem when looking for a house. In 1984 local authorities built 33 per cent of all houses built in the country, but they now build only 7.5 per cent of all houses built. The number of people on below average incomes has not declined, but income inequality has increased. Local authorities should, as a minimum, provide approximately 15 per cent of the total annual housing output per year.

I wish to share my time with Deputy McGuinness.

Is that agreed? Agreed.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this subject. One could spend days discussing either housing, planning or transportation.

As a county councillor in County Donegal, I know that one of the most regular issues brought to my attention is planning. The number of planning applications from local people, returning emigrants or strangers wishing to build a family or holiday home has increased dramatically. It seems the drafting of the new county development plan in County Donegal has caused hysteria. This increase is a healthy sign and a vote of confidence in our region by those who wish to invest or to settle down there.

The national debate County Clare has helped to generate mirrors many of the issues with which Donegal County Council is trying to grapple. It is difficult to strike a balance between encouraging people to invest in our beautiful county and maintaining the countryside and between trying to make our limited infrastructure cater for existing settlements and providing funding for new largescale developments. I hope the national development plan provides increased funding for infrastructure, such as water, sewerage and roads. It is also difficult to strike a balance between sustaining a vibrant countryside and becoming a seasonal holiday village for the rich from other parts of the island or for foreign urban dwellers who can avail of good exchange rates. The current exchange rate has created a great difficulty or opportunity, depending on whether one is a landowner or a local person trying to buy land for building. A difficult balance must be struck between enabling land owners to supplement their incomes from the poor fishing and farming that prevails in Donegal by selling off sites and keeping the price of house sites within the range of local people. One of the most difficult aspects of this question, as has been discovered in County Clare, is defining a local person. Given that the Inishowen electoral area now receives one third of all planning applications for Donegal, these balances are of great concern to everyone who lives in the peninsula, and rightly so. The work of finalising a county development plan must take each of these concerns into account. While I commend Donegal County Council on its high level of interaction with the community, I am sure the debate engendered in other counties will be helpful to our case.

The Planning and Development Bill will make many improvements to the system. However, planning offices must be better resourced. It is important that decisions on applications be made speedily and that those who build without permission be challenged in an effective and efficient manner. It is also important that these ideals are not simply committed to paper but are resourced so that a speedy turnover of work can realistically occur.

One of our greatest difficulties in County Donegal is the turnover of planning officials. The Inishowen region has been one of the hardest hit and we have had eight or ten planning officers in the past two years. This is largely because of the sheer volume of work. No region can develop a consistent planning policy or deliver an adequate service with regard to following up unauthorised development and so on, without a consistency of personnel. I trust that with new time limits will come new bodies.

The national media debate gives the impression that our housing difficulties begin and end in Dublin. This is not so. House ownership remains an essential part of life for Irish people and in County Donegal, like everywhere else, we have good and bad records in realising that dream. Affordable housing and solutions for those looking to improve their lot are not yet present and possible existing solutions are fraught with difficulties. Those who have a site and are in a position to build must still acquire planning permission and this is becoming more and more complicated in our area, due to factors such as special areas of conservation, natural heritage areas and the issue of linear development. There has been an explosion of development in areas which had previously been quiet. For those willing to build but without a site, the problem is the escalating price of land. Our great advantages of a healthy environment and breathtaking scenery and our proximity to the large urban centre of Derry have become the greatest disadvantages to young couples wishing to build homes, because of the strong demand for holiday homes among people wishing to enjoy those very features. It is essential, given our difficulties in providing houses, that young people trying to set up home in their own locality should receive priority in terms of planning. In a time when our job creation level is poor and fishing and farming are becoming more challenging we should not add to the burdens of those who believe that the future can be brighter for our beautiful region.

I mention the frustrations of those on county council lists of housing schemes although that may have to be resolved at a local level. For those on the specific instance list there is a long list of criteria which effectively exclude single people and couples without children. These categories of people are so low on the priority list that they never get a chance despite being in possession of a site. Where can a single person go? If a single person is lucky enough to be selected there follows months of paper shifting between various offices – environment, health, planning, roads, housing and so on – which must send reports over and back. The appropriate level of staffing is not available for the number of cases being dealt with.

Once the local council offices become a reality in the new year these problems will be reduced and we all look forward to this. I congratulate the Donegal county manager and the county council for their initiative in moving to decentralise. They have led the way in this venture which has become a pilot for other counties. Decentralisation will bring services to the local communities and, in my area, will give a badly needed boost to the town of Carndonagh. While our county council meetings have followed the electoral area format for more than a year, the presence of the offices will make decentralisation a reality in the new millennium.

The Minister for the Environment and Local Government visited my area on his first official visit as Minister and he saw that the council had begun to acquire the finance to develop new housing schemes. I live in a town where there had been a 16 year gap between the last scheme and the recommencement of house building and Deputies can imagine the length of the list of people waiting for new houses. I trust that the finance continues to arrive for new developments and that council spending will be able to match the finance it is given. I hope the Minister will continue to consider releasing land for council housing which is becoming more and more difficult. There is also a great need for serviced sites.

In an ageing society, we should take a closer look at the granny flat concept and at supports offered to couples or elderly people to extend their homes to support other family members, thus taking them off the council housing list. I have many criticisms of the system of house repairs and extensions. I often come across situations where a small investment would leave a house in a much safer and healthier condition but where the applicant falls between existing schemes. Sometimes the investment needed to repair a house is prohibitive but the applicant does not want to leave it and the chance of qualifying for a specific instance house is unrealistic.

Central heating for the elderly presents another difficulty. I am unaware of any scheme which caters for it. Housing aid for the elderly is so underfunded that there is no scope to expand into heating, despite the fact that heat is one of the most basic needs of older people and one of the small comforts we can give to people who are often living alone and in need of such small comforts. While I praise the way the North Western Health Board gets value for money for its scheme, I feel the money it offers applicants does not meet their needs and there is a serious countrywide backlog for a scheme which is intended to supply basic urgent repairs.

I congratulate Action Inishowen, an organisation in my region, for its energy action programme which brought trainees into the homes of the elderly and insulated roofs, placed spy-holes and safety chains on doors and provided many other small but important improvements. I hope this organisation will be supported by the various agencies in running a second phase of the scheme and I hope the range of improvements they provide will be increased. Old people need to feel safe, snug and secure in their homes and this scheme has helped to see that they do so. The scheme is to be reviewed with a view to rationalising it and including areas currently unsupported. I ask the Minister to outline the current status of the review and its recommendations, if any.

I commend the Minister for the Environment and Local Government for the work being done under the guise of voluntary housing. This is true value in partnership. In my area I have watched various voluntary groups spend months pursuing dreams of housing schemes for those who need them most. The quality of the developments are second to none and are not, in any sense, ghettos or second-class options. I trust the support given to these groups will continue and, while accepting the need for a certain amount of bureaucracy, I hope the level of red tape will be kept to a minimum. I could speak about the need to improve the new house grant but that question has been debated long and hard many times. I hope it can be incorporated into a mortgage, given as a mortgage relief and improved significantly. It could be a kick start for many young people in taking on a financial commitment which they otherwise could not take on.

With regard to transport in north Donegal, I cannot argue about whether the train fare to Cork is cheaper than that to Limerick. This does not mean anything to me because we, in north Donegal, do not have a train service. I cannot argue about the air service from Dublin to Shannon, Kerry, Cork, Galway, Belfast or Derry because Donegal does not have an air service. The transport issue is vitally important to north Donegal. On a regular basis I am told that the tourism and business sectors suffer due to the peripheral and inaccessible nature of Donegal. Indeed, those of us who commute to work have our own thoughts on those two words. However, in a time of high unemployment and a lack of opportunities, this statement gains even more significance. The words "peripheral" and "inaccessible" are taken as the excuse for businesses not wanting to invest or locate in the region. To me, this is the easy option. It is a real opt-out clause. People in north Donegal in so many ways feel far from peripheral. They have worked for large companies, which have operated successfully for a number of years and which have been happy with the adjacent urban centre of Derry, the proximity of the port of Larne and the international airport in Antrim. Indeed, the Government provided support for the development of Derry City Airport, which was needed to enable a major airline to land large planes at this regional airport. This support has been important and it had a positive effect, which perhaps will take a little more time to appreciate, yet when I ask what role this has had for job creation, I find myself asking, "Are our agencies using this service to get business people into the north-west or are they returning to the old, more comfortable argument that until we have a Dublin-Derry service we will not really feel the benefit of a foreign itinerary coming into our region?"

In raising this issue I am aware it is outside the remit of the Minister's Department. However, the State agency which is responsible for job creation cites access as a major drawback. Therefore, in the context of transport, I ask what can be done to link Donegal to Dublin in the context of road, rail and air services?

We already have an airport in Derry which can accommodate planes of any size. There are regional airports all over the country which provide a social and economic service, often without making a profit. This ensures that most locations on this small island are only a short distance apart. Why, therefore, are we, in north Donegal, treated differently? Surely a person from Malin should have the same right of access to public transport as someone from Cork. That inequity is unacceptable.

There is already a rail link from Derry to Belfast and from Belfast to Dublin, but there is no direct service linking north Donegal with Dublin. Whether this is seen as an improvement of the existing line, a Donegal-Sligo-Dublin or a Letterkenny-Derry-Dublin service, there can be no argument regarding funding as it comes back to the same issue of the right of a Donegal person to the same entitlements as any other citizen of the Republic.

One person who is contributing to transport infrastructure in Donegal is the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Woods, who is providing funding towards piers and harbours. He is providing for real change and making a positive impact on my county. There are opportunities opening up for car ferry links and everything seems to revolve around that particular transport sector.

To return to an aspect over which there is greater control, I raise the issue of the development of a corridor from north Donegal through Derry to Dublin. The Minister, Deputy Dempsey, and Lord Dubbs co-launched the north-west region cross-Border group transportation infrastructural study which, along with the Donegal task force initiative report of not that long ago, showed the consensus that exists in regard to what needs to be done. I need do no more than remind any Minister who has come up through Omagh of the joys of travelling on that route, the A5-N2. While many people do not seem to realise it, there are large urban centres to be served in the north-west and, just like the argument for the rail and air services, there is no excuse for any Government to ignore the infrastructural needs of a transport network.

For all the talk of an inability to achieve consensus on any matter relating to the North, this is not the case in relation to transport infrastructure as it pertains to us in the real north. We in the north-west, irrespective of political and social divides, never again want to hear the phrase "the poor relation" because this is what we feel like at present. We never want to see a map which shows red, black, yellow or green lines serving three quarters of the island, with a great void of white with no lines in the north-west. I trust that major and significant improvements will result from the national development plan and I await its publication.

As I stated at the outset, each of the topics under consideration today would merit a single debate in its own right and it is difficult to be all-embracing and to give adequate justice to planning, housing or transport in the time permitted, but there will be other opportunities to do so. I wish all the relevant Ministers well in the large range of important aspects which come under the remit of their Departments and congratulate them on the many initiatives and changes which they are bringing to their briefs.

I wish to share my time with Deputy Wall.

Acting Chairman:

Is that agreed? Agreed.

The development of a number of towns into major residential centres is proposed in Fine Gael's rival national plan, the policy document entitled A Plan for the Nation. It is a vision of Ireland up to 2010 and it proposes changes in the key areas of housing, transport, child care, taxation and the environment. One of the main planks of this excellent document is the drawing up of a national residential plan to encourage growth in a number of towns outside Dublin, including Letterkenny, Sligo, Castlebar, Athlone, Tralee, Kilkenny, Portlaoise and Dundalk. This would be achieved through the expansion of the national rail network to encourage the location of businesses and housing developments throughout the State to slow down the expansion of Dublin. This is a huge opportunity. The infrastructural investment would be vast but it should be looked at seriously. The expansion outlined in the Fine Gael document would be financed by the issuing of 30 year fixed rate housing bonds.

Government services and entire Departments should be decentralised to encourage people to spread the economic boom, which is so evident in the State, to other growth centres. The ESRI medium-term review to 2003 noted that the high and rising costs of accommodation will translate into higher labour costs and certainly will put huge pressure on employers. The cost and availability of housing is restricting the labour market and impacting on mobility and wage inflation. There can be little doubt that the planning authorities must move towards increased density development, which will require better and more creative designs and higher standards. In addition, more land should be zoned for residential development, in particular along or adjacent to major transport routes. We must look seriously at this area. The lack of supply has the potential to add to the skill shortages and undermine attitudes to pay and social agreement. The problem must be addressed by action on planning infrastructure. There is also a strong case for strengthening the position of first-time buyers in the housing market.

There is a need for radical streamlining of the planning process to make it more efficient and capable of dealing with such issues as consultation, public inquiry and EIS statements as early as possible in the life of a project. This would be very helpful in that a great deal of time can be lost in this way. Additional resources should be allocated to ensure that current planning bottlenecks are cleared. Careful consideration should be given to specific actions such as pre-planning processes, a fast-tracking mechanism for key projects which are behind schedule and a review of current systems of compensation. Subject to the appropriate democratic safeguards, the introduction of a ministerial or public utility decree could cut through some of the tangles of red tape.

If the right decisions are made now, there is a unique opportunity for the economy, particularly in the areas of infrastructure, housing and child care. Those are the important areas of development in the coming years. If the right decisions are made now, they will have a major impact up to 2010.

I compliment the Government on bringing forward the rural renewal plan because if the level of applications for planning permission is an indication of a county's economic health, then Leitrim is booming. The number of applications that has resulted from the announcement of the plan is startling and the building boom in County Leitrim is one of the first indications of the dramatic effect of the recently introduced rural tax scheme. This scheme will create huge economic activity in Leitrim.

Unfortunately, only 35 DEDs were allocated to County Sligo and the Minister should reconsider the position in that. In the past, tax designation was concentrated on large urban centres and towns but rural areas, small towns and villages will now have the opportunity to develop. The first sign of the success of this scheme is clearly evident in Leitrim and it is obvious that it is also having a major impact in the 35 areas in Sligo to which I referred. The scheme is a step in the right direction.

At present, an inquiry is ongoing regarding the construction of an inner relief road in through Sligo. I appeal to the Minister to decide in favour of this project. A sworn public inquiry has taken place but the Minister has not given his final decision. This project has been in existence for 25 years and the proposed route will run south of Sligo town from the end of the Collooney dual carriageway to Hughes Bridge. The bridge was opened in 1989 when the corporation had already begun purchasing land along the proposed route. This issue has bitterly divided Sligo, with objectors describing it as an undesirable development. However, the county manager has stated that the proposed inner relief road offers the best solution to Sligo's traffic problems. John Fleming of the National Roads Authority has stated that "Sligo is a destination town in its own right," and that "Only 15 per cent is through-traffic bypass .".

If Sligo is to develop as a town of regional importance and as a place where people will be happy to live, a proper transport network must be provided. This matter has been under discussion for too long. The proposed western bypass route would also be a welcome development, but if we were to change our preference at this point it would take another 20 years for the new road to be built. The chamber of commerce also supports the construction of the inner relief road. The development of any new road always attracts controversy, with people either favouring or opposing its construction, but in my opinion the majority of people in Sligo welcome the proposed inner relief road because it could prove of great benefit to the county. I hope the Minister will make a ministerial order in respect of the project. I know the objectors can take their case to Europe but we must take a stand in respect of this important development which will have a great effect on Sligo's future growth.

Earlier in the week, I raised on the Adjournment the prospect of Sligo being officially declared a city. The town has a cathedral and is a seat of local government and I appeal to the Minister to give favourable consideration to this suggestion. His Department has at its disposal the ways and means to grant city status to Sligo. I understand the town can declare itself a city for historical or other reasons but the term "city" has a major meaning in that it gives the correct signals to those intent on investing in a given area. Officials of Sligo Corporation sometimes become confused between referring to it as a town or a city.

If Sligo and other towns are to develop as future growth centres, I suggest that the Government should not concentrate on building new town centres. Sligo, with its a local authority and cathedral, has the structures in place to be declared a city. If it is to develop as a centre of population with more than 50,000 inhabitants, the Government must give the right signals that it will be one of the proposed development centres to receive State support.

Opportunities for infrastructural development are extremely important. Fine Gael has produced an excellent document in this area which offers a vision of Ireland for the year 2010. Ten years is a short period and we must develop a plan to put in place badly needed structures. Gridlock in the planning system is threatening enterprise, development and investment. This has serious implications for our competitive position.

The planning system has become part of the infrastructural logjam in a variety of areas, including roads, public transport, waste disposal, sewerage and water supplies. For example, the maximum time taken to secure planning permission for a priority road project in the EU is three years. In Ireland, it can take more than six years. In the case of Sligo's inner relief road, it has taken 20 years.

The balance has swung away from action and implementation towards inordinate deliberation and consultation. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of appeals to An Bord Pleanála – more than 35 per cent between 1995 and 1997. In the same period, the number of cases which were determined within four months – the period stipulated in the regulations for determining appeals – slipped from 98 per cent in 1995 to 82 per cent in 1997.

I recognise the right of third parties to lodge objections to proposed industrial and other developments. There is no reason an efficient consultation and appeals process, on one hand, and an open and democratic planning system, on the other, should be mutually exclusive. We must reconsider the planning guidelines. I again welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter and I appeal to the Minister of State to forward my request for a decision on the N4 inner relief road to the Minister for the Environment and Local Government.

I thank Deputy Perry for sharing his time. Housing is the first item on every public representative's clinic sheet at present. Family after family visits our clinics to see if we can wave a magic wand and create a house for them. Sadly this cannot be done, but there must be a major drive by the Department of the Environment and Local Government and the local authorities to tackle this problem. First, the Department must ensure that all local authorities are using their housing allocation. A number of the authorities are a year or two years behind in this matter. The Department must make the necessary facilities available to these authorities to ensure that there is not a backlog in respect of such allocations.

Many of the problems to which people refer in this area relate to the lack of architects, engineers, etc., to allow local authorities design, plan and have housing schemes erected. Land continues to be a major factor. Local authorities to not have land banks available to them to meet their needs. For example, with a housing list of more than 700 families, Kildare County Council has not had land readily available to it in the Newbridge area to tackle such a major problem.

There is an urgent need to provide for the travelling community, proper halting and transient sites across the country. These people are not being cared for and many local authorities have done nothing to alleviate their problems. Urgent action is also required in respect of the housing lists operated by the relevant local authorities. Many of these are outdated and misleading and they must be updated.

Since I came to this House, and during my time in the Seanad, I have sought to ensure that 100 per cent funding is provided in respect of the disabled persons' grant. Disappointingly, this has not happened but I accept that successive Governments have improved the percentage paid by the Department. However, this is not good enough. We are faced with a situation where disabled people – who, in many cases, are senior citizens – are suffering because they do not have adequate funds to ensure that work on their houses is completed. In many instances, people will not return their application forms because of their financial position. During this age of plenty, can we tolerate the existence of such a sad situation? People are suffering because, in many cases, they do not have the small sum of money required to meet their needs. I ask the Government to take immediate action in respect of this grant and provide 100 per cent funding.

With regard to the transport problems that affect my constituency and the people who live there, I ask that the following be investigated, namely, the extension of the Arrow service to Athy and Carlow and the completion of the additional lane on the N7 from Rathcoole to Naas. These items are essential to permit the south Kildare area to develop in line with adjacent catchment areas of the capital. At present, a trip from Athy to Dublin takes between one and a half and one and three quarter hours. The N7 is a nightmare to travel on, morning or evening. The number of vehicles using this motorway has increased dramatically in the past two years. It is imperative that an extra lane is provided which would free a lane for heavy vehicles and allow a greater flow of vehicles on the motorway, thus reducing journey time to and from the capital.

The extension of the Arrow service to Carlow and Athy is very important. If that service was provided, it would immediately have an effect on the traffic problems on the N7 and N9 and would be of huge benefit to the south Kildare area, an area with a high rate of unemployment. Kildare has seen major industrial and residential development, but it has mostly been in the northern part of the county. Thus the importance of providing proper infrastructure to assist the development of the south Kildare area.

Other essential projects which must be completed to ensure such an infrastructure are the Kildare-Monasterevin bypass, the Crookstown-Moone-Timolin alignment and the Castledermot bypass. The final part of the jigsaw is the proposed inner relief street in Athy. Deputy Ellis could have been talking about Athy when he spoke of waiting 25 years. There are exactly the same problems in Sligo as there are in Athy, and they must be resolved as a matter of urgency to ensure the development of this once great market town.

These four infrastructural changes are included in the Kildare county development plan and the Athy UDC development plan. The Kildare area is the next area due for development within the county. I ask the Minister for the Environment and Local Government to use all his powers to ensure an early solution to the Kildare bypass problem. This major traffic problem has a huge effect on the county with cars and heavy vehicles now using country roads in their attempts to create their own bypasses, thus creating major problems in these areas.

There is also a problem with the bus service within the county. Kildare has some of the major motorways but a pensioner in a rural area cannot get to the local town. Last week I met a pensioner who stated that because of these problems, she could only go to town once a week when a neighbour was driving there. We must look for transport facilities within the county which will provide such people with an outlet. A free travel pass is no use to a person who lives 12 miles from the nearest bus route. Travel arrangements, private or otherwise, must be looked at to ensure that pensioners can get to town to shop and collect their pensions.

Planning is a major concern for rural Deputies. Every Deputy in this House wants rural life to survive but too many planning authorities now see the city, town or village as the only place for a person to set up home, without giving consideration to the financial hardship that imposes. I have heard of many cases of people from a rural background being pressurised into moving to a town, thus putting another name on the housing list of that local authority. People with a rural background must be given a chance to retain that background and not be forced to go to the nearest town before they are granted planning permission. The cost of urban housing causes financial hardship for them. It would be possible for those people to get a low cost site if they could get planning permission in their own area, thereby relieving much of the financial strain.

I hope the items mentioned will be brought to the attention of the relevant Ministers and that south Kildare will be able to match the north of the county in the near future.

The issues of housing, planning and transport are inter-linked, as those of us based in Dublin are aware. It is opportune, however, that we are discussing this today when the Book of Estimates has just been published and the new national development plan will soon be unveiled.

I was heartened to note in the Estimates that the Department of the Environment and Local Government is being allocated an additional £239 million from the Exchequer, of which £174 million will be spent on the local authority social housing programme. Exchequer spending on the roads programme will increase by £40 million. That provision will be supplemented by expenditure from the local government fund and other sources, giving a total spend on roads of £622 million. There will be an increase in the funding of water and sewage projects, an essential part of provision of land for housing, to £413 million, and an increase in spending on local authority social and affordable housing, raising the total to £714 million. The expenditure on housing will provide 8,500 accommodation units next year, of which 5,500 will be local authority housing starts. I hope local authorities which have been given an allocation of housing starts will use the allocation as quickly as possible. The Department of Public Enterprise has been allocated an additional £100 million for continued investment in public transport.

Housing issues have exercised those of us in the Dublin area for some time. I compliment the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland and the Planning Institute for organising a conference on stopping the sprawl. Deputy Gilmore was the only Deputy who attended. Issues germane to the debate, such as design and density, were addressed by eminent speakers. I compliment the Government on its continuing commitment to address housing issues in Dublin.

The most significant regeneration programme in the history of the State has been undertaken in my constituency in Ballymun. Ballymun will become an example of what can be done. I am aware of the mistakes of the past, when housing was provided with no other facilities or infrastructure. I was delighted to see the outcome of the architectural competition run by Ballymun Regeneration Limited. It was won by a consortium of architects from Glasgow, a city where the very best in design and density exists. These issues have been addressed in Ballymun and will bring to bear the need for an improved social mix and to give people the opportunity to live in apartment, standard or duplex housing. The provision of student accommodation and executive apartments was also included in the winning entry.

Density and design are issues which must be addressed. When one looks at areas such as Drumcondra and Phibsboro, built years ago, one sees a very high level of density but no one could say there is a poor quality of housing. It is possible to have good quality housing design with a high level of density. We should do our best to increase density within the M50 ring because it contains the best infrastructural support. There is potential for transport links, such as the Pelletstown site on the Navan Road which was part of the Dublin Corporation's development plan last year. An area plan is being developed for that in consultation with the local community and developers. That it is on a rail link provides potential for high quality, well designed urban neighbourhoods close to the city and the rail line might be linked to Dublin Airport and Navan. It will afford an opportunity to those who wish to return to the city.

Social housing has been addressed through the affordable housing initiative. The public should be aware that affordable housing does not mean cheap, low quality housing. I commend Dublin Corporation for its efforts in the Ratoath Road area where it will carry some of the cost of the sites and, at the same time, provide 60 to 70 good quality new homes for young people who will be able to avail of them through the shared ownership scheme or the affordable housing initiative.

Certain elements of the transport problem had been dealt with properly but we should not put all our eggs in one basket. An interlinked system is needed and I am delighted the Government has given a commitment to address Luas and other aspects of the transport system. There is an urgent need for a rail link to the airport. Those of us who reside on the north side of Dublin cannot wait for that. One wants to travel to and from the airport as quickly as possible. I am very much of favour of its construction as it would address transport needs for students in DCU, people travelling to and from the airport and those who reside in Ballymun.

A perennial issue is the shortage of taxis and I have heard many simplistic solutions to the problem. Dublin Corporation and the other local authorities are trying to do their best to address it but when one considers that the full allocation of taxi plates this year has still not been made six weeks before Christmas, it is not possible, even with the best will in the world, to allocate endless taxi plates at the wave of a hand and more thought needs to be put in. Dublin Bus, in which I am losing a great deal of faith, needs to be encouraged to provide a more diverse form of transport. Dubliners are sick and tired of being told that the company cannot provide late night transport. Buses must stop running at 11.30 p.m. during the week and are provided for an extra few hours at the weekend. Late night bus services ought to be available every night. Orbital bus routes should be introduced. Many people do not want to go into the city centre all the time to carry on business. They want to visit friends and travel to shopping centres and workplaces on the periphery of the city and such bus routes would alleviate much of the transport problem.

There will be a detailed discussion on planning later but a mechanism is needed whereby infrastructural projects, such as the Dublin Port tunnel, the north fringe sewer and the C ring do not get held up interminably. I welcome the allocation of £30 million for the north fringe sewer and that will release a great deal of land on the north side of the city. If there is an integrated approach to these developments, progress can be made.

Debate adjourned.
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