Vol. 610 No. 6
6 Mr. O’Dowd asked the Minister for Transport the improved transport links he intends to put in place in the Shannon region to improve access routes to Shannon Airport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36018/05]
Transport 21 is primarily about connectivity. As the Deputy will be aware, there has been substantial investment in recent years in upgrading the national roads network in the Limerick, Shannon and Ennis region. Major projects completed include the Limerick southern ring road, phase 1, the N20 and N21 Adare-Limerick and N18 Newmarket-on-Fergus bypass. The N19 to Shannon has also been upgraded. These projects have greatly enhanced the access from Limerick city and its hinterland to Shannon Airport.
Transport 21 will go much further and widen this access to the surrounding cities and regions by upgrading the transport links between Limerick and its neighbouring cities, towns and regions, thereby further enhancing access to Shannon Airport. In particular, the completion of the major inter-urban motorway programme under Transport 21 will provide a motorway between Limerick and Dublin, as well as linking other towns such as Nenagh, Roscrea and Portlaoise with Limerick by motorway. The development of the Atlantic corridor and the upgrading of the N24 will result in greatly improved road connections between Limerick, Cork, Galway, Sligo and Waterford as well as improving links between Limerick and intermediate towns such as Mallow, Tipperary and Tuam. The upgrading of other key national primary routes such as the N21 and N22, and of national secondary routes such as the N67, N68, N69 and N85, will facilitate easier accessibility to Shannon Airport from towns such as Tralee, Killarney and the coastal towns of Clare.
Transport 21 provides for the phased reopening of the western rail corridor. In addition, a study on a rail link from the Limerick-Ennis line to Shannon Airport is also being carried out to assess the feasibility of linking the airport by rail to the cities of Limerick, Galway and beyond. Hourly peak and two hourly off-peak rail services will be introduced on the Limerick-Dublin route once new rail cars on order enter into service.
The improved transport network under Transport 21 will facilitate easier access to Shannon Airport by providing greater connectivity between Limerick city and other cities, towns and regions. Transport 21 will widen the catchment area of Shannon Airport and provide more direct, more reliable, and quicker access directly to Shannon and Shannon Airport.
Listening to the Minister's list, one would think Shannon was going to be the centre of the universe as a result of all the roads that will be built. The reality is that Shannon is facing an extremely difficult challenge in the coming year.
As the Deputy has just one minute, she should ask a question.
The Atlantic corridor, which was supposed to open up the whole western seaboard and which is essential to Shannon if it is to prosper, has no timeframe. There is no start or finish date. The western railway will go nowhere near Shannon. It is unbelievable to build a railway in the west and not connect it to the major international airport. A feasibility study is even worse than the kiss of death. It is a kiss of a long lingering death because nothing happens.
The Deputy's time has concluded.
Will the Minister give a commitment to the west, at least in terms of transport infrastructure? Will he carry out an impact study to determine how to prioritise future investment to ensure that Shannon will survive as a major international airport serving the rest of Ireland and that the pull towards Dublin does not continue?
The Deputy must give way because other Members are offering and I would like to facilitate them, if possible.
I agree that Shannon faces many challenges but I do not agree that there is not sufficient focus; there is a massive focus in Transport 21 on infrastructural development for Shannon. Work is well under way on the Atlantic corridor, as the Deputy well knows, and it will be complete in its entirety within the ten-year framework of Transport 21.
It does not state that anywhere in the Minister's one-page plan.
The Deputy can take it from me that is what it means. Ten years in anyone's language means ten years for total completion.
It is 25 years in Fianna Fáil language.
It is not in my language.
The Minister does not speak Fianna Fáil's language.
I accept that there are challenges for Shannon but Cork sees the future in a positive way, with all sorts of benefits accruing in international airspace. Knock sees it the same way and welcomes open skies. Those airports are confident about the opportunities presented by open skies. Shannon is in pole position, so it has an even greater opportunity than airports that are less well known internationally.
God be with the days when we had Fianna Fáil Deputies from the west with some backbone.
That is not a question. I will have to move on to the next question.
The Ministers of State, Deputies de Valera and Killeen, would run out on to the plinth and stand up for the region but now they have been silenced.
That is not true; it is a load of rubbish. Fianna Fáil has delivered for the west.
They have been incarcerated in State cars.
We delivered for Knock, Shannon, Dublin and the whole bloody shooting gallery.
The Minister referred to the feasibility study in Transport 21 for important access routes to Shannon. When will that be completed?
A feasibility study is being done on the connection to Shannon. It is extraordinary that both Deputies, who, along with their party leaders, seek value for money every day, would suggest that we should put a rail link in place without any economic assessment of the value for money on behalf of the taxpayer.
Is there a timeframe for it?
Deputy Broughan must be embarrassed by the public transport record of his party.
I ask the Minister of State to allow questions to proceed in an orderly fashion. Deputy Cowley is waiting and we would like, if possible, to reach his question.
7 Mr. Stanton asked the Minister for Transport the level of staffing he envisages for the proposed new driving standards and road safety authority; the way in which this authority will be financed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36031/05]
71 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Transport his proposals for a road safety authority; its remit, functions, powers, number of board members, staff numbers and budget; and when same will be formally established. [35976/05]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 71 together.
I refer the Deputies to my reply to Question No. 3. Work on establishing the road safety authority is well advanced in my Department. It was originally intended that the new body would be called the driver testing and standards authority and would deliver the driver licensing and driver testing service only. The Government decided in July to assign a range of additional road safety functions to the new body, thereby creating the road safety authority. The authority will be tasked with playing a lead role in the area of road safety.
The authority's functions will include those currently undertaken by the Department in respect of driver testing, driver licensing, vehicle standards, certain functions relating to the road haulage industry, the road safety functions currently undertaken by the National Safety Council and certain functions relating to accident research and statistics being undertaken by the National Roads Authority. The authority will also have responsibility for the regulation of driving instruction, the introduction of compulsory basic training for motorcycles and the introduction of vocational training for professional drivers in the transport industry.
The Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill 2004 has completed Second Stage in the Dáil. Amendments to the Bill are being drafted to give effect to the wider functions being assigned to the authority and it is to be renamed the road safety authority Bill 2004.
I anticipate that the Bill will become law by the middle of 2006, following which the authority will be established on a statutory footing. The Bill provides for a board to oversee and direct the work of the authority that will comprise a chairperson and not less than six and not more than 11 ordinary members. Pending the establishment of the authority, I propose to appoint an interim board to facilitate the transitional phase of its establishment.
A project team is in place in my Department to progress the establishment of the authority. Issues relating to staffing, the organisational structure and the financial arrangements for the new authority are being dealt with by the project team in consultation with the staff associations and the Department of Finance.
From the Opposition's point of view, the establishment of this new authority is a pig in a poke. We do not know what it is going to do or if the new legislation will be more than enabling in nature. What powers and functions will the body possess? What value will the body add if it simply amalgamates the testing and road safety functions? All that is wrong with those bodies is they are not resourced; they could do the job of the new body if they had the resources.
I do not accept that the Deputy is being asked to buy a pig in a poke. I have appeared before two committees and explained in detail what I am doing. I have here laid out, in broad but direct terms, the responsibilities of the authority. I have also stated that the National Safety Council will become part of the authority to create, on a statutory basis, one body that will have responsibility for co-ordinating all matters, some of which lie with the NRA, the driver testing authorities, local authorities and various sections of the Department. Everyone has recommended that the functions should be overseen by a single statutory road safety authority with real teeth.
I have answered this question many times. When the amendments are ready, I will give them to the Deputy in good time before we deal with them. I hope that is acceptable and that the Bill will be a substantial improvement on the original proposal.
What is the timeframe for the amendments? This is an unsatisfactory way to do business. Why did not the Minister not come up with a major safety authority Bill in the first instance? Why must this Government always introduce a Bill and then radically change it?
In April, the Minister appointed a chief executive officer designate of what was then to be the driver testing standards authority. What is the position as regards that appointment? Has that person been paid since April? What compensation implications exist due to the change of the functions of the authority and his role?
The Minister promised action on a number of outstanding issues, including the practical training of motorcyclists and the regulation of driving instructors. Must we wait until the authority is established before we can take action in these areas?
I am doing this and we are waiting because the Labour Party asked me to do it on Second Stage of the Driver Testing and Standards Authority Bill.
We had asked for it before then as well.
This came to fruition during the debate and in another forum. The momentum gathered and I said I would stand back. If there is a better way, I try to work with it if it is possible to do so. It has caused some delay but the consensus is that it was better to establish the new authority from scratch and appoint the interim chief executive officer, who is already working away on getting things in place.
The amendments should be ready early in the new year and we can then start the debate early in the new session. I have set a deadline of the end of next year's first session for the Bill passing through both Houses and establishing the body on a statutory basis.
8 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Transport the precise measures he will use to ameliorate the negative economic impact on the mid-west region as a result of the ending of the Shannon stopover; if he will carry out an economic impact assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35911/05]
172 Mr. McHugh asked the Minister for Transport if an economic impact study will be initiated on the impact on the Shannon and west region of the recent agreement reached with the US on the Shannon stopover; if he will put further developments on this issue on hold until the study is complete; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36206/05]
183 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Transport his proposals to alleviate the negative economic impact of the phasing out of the Shannon stopover; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36263/05]
186 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Transport the way in which he expects the open skies policy to benefit the consumer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36266/05]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8, 172, 183, and 186 together.
I refer the Deputies to my reply to a Priority Question earlier. The conclusion that open skies will be good for Irish tourism, aviation, business links and the economy generally is clear and I do not intend to delay those benefits further by commissioning another study on the impact of open skies. As already stated in reply to the earlier priority question, however, I have also been aware all along that open skies will present challenges for Shannon and that transitional arrangements are needed to allow the airport to meet those challenges. I have at all times made it clear that Ireland's support for the EU-US open skies deal is contingent on a satisfactory transitional period for Shannon and I have published details of that arrangement, which will give Shannon Airport a total of two and a half years of stopover arrangements before the open skies policy comes in fully for Ireland in April 2008. This additional time for Shannon will enable the airport to plan an orderly move to open skies and to explore how it can exploit the opportunities the policy offers.
I have sought and obtained assurances from Aer Lingus that, in the context of a level playing field between the airline and its competitors, it will maintain the current level of transatlantic traffic — approximately 400,000 passengers a year — with regular year-round scheduled services between Shannon and Boston and New York. All these transitional arrangements will allow Shannon Airport to plan the move to open skies in 2008 in an orderly way.
In addition to the transition secured for Shannon, Transport 21 will greatly enhance the infrastructure of the Shannon region and broaden the catchment area of the airport. I propose to prepare an economic and tourism development plan in consultation with the Ministers for Arts, Sport and Tourism and Enterprise, Trade and Employment to ensure Shannon Airport sustains and increases transatlantic air services.
Overall, I am pleased with the new opportunities that the open skies policy will offer Irish airlines and airports. It will mean even more prosperity for Ireland through increased services, tourism and trade links. I am convinced that the transitional arrangements secured for Shannon mean that, through the proven resourcefulness of those who run the airport, it will fully share in that prosperity.
Is the Minister saying he will not undertake the economic impact assessment requested by my colleague, Deputy O'Sullivan, and instead will prepare a regional plan for the future in conjunction with the Departments of Arts, Sport and Tourism and Enterprise, Trade and Employment? Will that take into account the necessity to compensate for the jobs and business that may be lost following the curtailment of the stopover? The Minister announced this fundamental change to air services in New York while he was negotiating Ireland's position in the open skies policy. Does he agree the fundamental problem in this regard is he allowed too short a lead-in to the change? Thirty months is too short for a major development in any region.
While Shannon Airport faces significant challenges, it will also be presented with major opportunities. The change should be embraced positively, not negatively. I instanced why management at Knock Airport, which has a smaller hinterland compared with Shannon Airport, is positive about the open skies policy and looks forward to providing many transatlantic routes. As Shannon Airport is a major international brand in America, it should grasp the opportunity rather than look backwards. An economic impact assessment would have examined a fait accompli. We should look forward and my plan has been well received by management, unions and politicians in the area. It will embrace the future and maximise opportunities for Shannon Airport.
What is the Minister's view on the open skies deal? Will it be in place prior to April 2008? If so, is he satisfied both Shannon and Dublin airports will not be disadvantaged and miss the boat by not establishing routes and so on?
Are there limits to the development of air travel? If the increase in air transport continues, it is predicted that by 2020 it will account for all the CO2 emissions Ireland is permitted under current EU targets. In addition, the peak in global oil production is imminent and that is likely to impinge on development. Has the Minister's Department set limits on the expansion of air travel?
Deputy Olivia Mitchell would make a good snooker player as she tries to position me between two opposing points of view. The negotiations were difficult because I was trying to strike a balance to benefit the entire State but, equally, I wanted to achieved a transitional arrangement for Shannon Airport. The balance has been struck and even though open skies will be in place next year, there will not be an immediate explosion. All airlines whether they are based in America or Europe, will need to build capacity to take advantage. That transitional period will facilitate domestic airlines, particularly Aer Lingus, to do the same and they will not be disadvantaged.
The deal agreed in the EU-US negotiations, which was concluded last week, went well and more technical arrangements were agreed than everybody expected. It remains to be seen whether we will sign off on it at our December Council meeting. A two-step approach is likely. All member states will agree the deal in December but they will allow two or three months to monitor what happens in the control and ownership of airlines in America. It will be ratified at the March Council meeting and will be in place next year. That is generally the indication from all member states.
I call Question No. 9. We have gone over time on this question.
Am I not entitled to an answer to my question?
The Chair has no control over answers.
9 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Transport the measures he has put in place to the operators’ licences and for the allocation of rail track access in a fair and unbiased manner following his recent announcement that his Department is in discussion with an international open access freight operator. [36056/05]
15 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Transport if he proposes to reverse his policy in respect of the subsidisation of rail freight business in Ireland. [35892/05]
19 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Transport the progress made to date in 2005 by his Department on the introduction of private operators into the rail freight sector here; his views on the entry of such operators; if he is in talks with such operators; if he is optimistic that private sector involvement in rail freight will happen in the future; if so, when; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36035/05]
25 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for Transport if representations have been made to Iarnród Éireann regarding the recent cancellation of all container trains from Sligo, Cork, Limerick and Mayo to Dublin Port; and the reason unlike other countries in Europe, Ireland provides no incentives to industry to use rail or to operators to enter the market. [36055/05]
39 Ms O’Sullivan asked the Minister for Transport the structures that he has put in place to provide licences to potential open access freight operators; the organisation that will grant track access to any open access freight train operator and the criteria that will inform decisions in this regard. [35890/05]
98 Mr. Eamon Ryan asked the Minister for Transport the reason, contrary to EU policy, his Department is actively overseeing the transfer of container traffic from rail to road, of which the closure of the western rail corridor between Limerick and Sligo is symptomatic. [36054/05]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 15, 19, 25, 39 and 98 together.
The licensing and allocation of track access for rail operations are governed by two EU directives which have been transposed into Irish law: SI 537 of 2003, the European Communities (Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2003 which transpose into Irish law EU Directive 2001/13 establishing a mechanism whereby an operator can apply for a licence to operate as a railway undertaking; and SI 643 of 2004, the European Communities (Allocation of Railway Infrastructure Capacity and the Levying of Charges for the use of Railway Infrastructure and Safety Certification) Regulations 2004 which transpose into Irish law EU Directive 2001/14 providing for the allocation and charges for track access.
These regulations establish a fair and transparent system for granting licences and allocating track capacity and set out the criteria to be considered in awarding a licence and in granting track access. These regulations are to be used where member states decide to open their market. However they do not create an obligation on member states to liberalise services by having more than one railway operator.
Directive 2004/51/EC on the development of the Community's railways creates an obligation on member states to open their rail freight markets to competition from 1 January 2006 in the case of international freight and from 1 January 2007 for domestic freight operations. Significant progress has been made on the transposition of this directive and it will be finalised in the coming weeks.
As Minister, I am the regulator and I am responsible for granting licences, while Iarnród Éireann, as the operator of the railway infrastructure, is the infrastructure manager and is responsible for the allocation of track capacity. The provisions of the directive will guide me in considering applications for licences. An intending freight operator dissatisfied with the terms and conditions offered by Iarnród Éireann for access to the rail network has a right of appeal to me as the regulator.
While no formal applications have been received for a railway undertaking licence or track access, my Department has received a communication from an operator stating its intention to establish itself as a freight operator. My Department has been in touch with the operator and a formal application is expected in the new year.
I welcome the development of a liberalised rail freight market, as the emergence of alternative fright providers has the potential to increase capacity and choice for freight users. It will also increase choice for Irish exporters moving goods by rail within the rest of the European Union.
With regard to the subsidisation of rail freight, as I said in reply to Question No. 5, my policy priority remains that additional Exchequer funding should be focused on the expansion of passenger services. However, I am open to considering proposals from interested parties on innovative or new approaches to rail freight where a tangible return on Exchequer investment can be demonstrated and which compares favourably with investment in passenger services.
Iarnród Éireann's decision to stop proving a single unit container service was a business decision made by the company. Container freight levels had dropped to about 35 containers a day when the service ceased in July of this year. Container freight traffic is only commercially viable on a large scale. Iarnród Éireann estimates that 18 40-foot containers are needed for a commercially viable train load. The company would welcome proposals for full train load container freight services from any quarter.
I will be brief, in recognition of the fact that the Minister has dealt with part of this issue during Priority Questions. Could the Minister make a bold move in this area rather than waiting for operators to come to him with expressions of interest? Can he advertise and set out a policy framework to encourage interest, rather than inquiring about a European directive regarding compulsion or requiring operators to come to us? Can he not spell it out that the Government is trying to encourage, support and develop this area? I am interested to see if he is willing or able to take that approach rather than wait to see who comes along and makes an application.
On the Minister's statement that he does not want to support rail freight service because he wants to concentrate on passenger services, does he agree that the connected issue about road safety is increasingly important in this area because road freight helps create accidents, so there is motivation for us to subsidise, support and develop rail freight which is a safer transport mode which also has environmental and social benefits? What will it take for the Minister to revise the policy he has of not supporting rail freight services when most other EU countries are quite willing to support them?
That is not the case. I have enunciated my priority to the Deputy but I am not going to start liberalising the market by suggesting to the market generally that there is a pot of taxpayers' money to be shovelled out to it willy nilly. That is not the route I am taking, and I hope the Green Party will support me in that. New and innovative ideas may well come forward which may involve new ways of looking at support for rail freight and, if so, I will be happy to consider them. However, at this point I am not going to make the opening gambit of market liberalisation by asking the market to come to us with a promise of a great deal of taxpayers' money. I will not approach the issue in that manner.
Regarding the active participation or pursuit by my Department or me in encouraging rail operators to the Irish market by setting out a framework, we are well ahead of some countries in embracing the directives. It is known that the directives take effect in two ways from 1 January 2006, just a few weeks away, and 1 January 2007. I have made it clear that the Government welcomes any additional carriers onto the rail network. Already there are indications of at least one company being interested.
Investors look at the overall climate, so the problem is that anyone looking at this country now would see that those in power have only been interested in organising the demise of rail freight and an exit from it. In those circumstances the Green Party would support financial assistance to encourage new entrants to the market and to set a market which would attract them.
The Minister says he would consider this, so how would he do so? Has he commissioned a study? Has he asked the Department to look at the options, is he looking at international examples or should the Opposition parties suggest specific means?
As I said earlier, perhaps when Deputy Ryan was not in the House, what the Irish rail freight market offers is clearly very limited. Rail freight is only viable over long distances. The island of Ireland, being the size it is, does not provide that type of capacity in its network.
How can the Minister know that?
Unlike most other European countries, which are connected to each other, we are not. We are quite isolated in the context of the international rail freight market. While I encourage entrants to the Irish market, it is not rocket science to figure out why there is not a great interest in the market.
How does the Minister know that? He does not seem to have a strategy. Is anyone looking at a situation where subsidies might be beneficial, given the overall cost benefit to the economy? How does the Minister know? He is simply shaking his head and saying it is not possible. After Christmas, the ports, which are part of the portfolio for which I have responsibility in the Labour Party, will come within the Minister's Department. Can the Minister come up with some innovative ways of using maritime and rail freight to move vast amounts of goods by public transport?
The Minister said there has been one expression of interest in the Irish rail freight market. Clearly, I am strongly in favour of Iarnród Éireann as the infrastructure operator but as the regulator, how will the Minister shape the pricing structure, charging mechanisms and so on? Does he envisage a situation where there will be a regulator mechanism, perhaps arising from the comments he made earlier regarding Professor O'Mahony's work? Is that what we are expecting? Down the line, is it possible that some of the likely disputes about limited rail space and charges will end up in the courts, as happened with telecom companies?
I wonder if people listen to me. I have been saying all along that a major, substantial international operator is very interested in coming onto the Irish market. That is terrific news. Are we saying that one such operator is not enough, that there should be ten or 20? One substantial competitor would have a dramatic effect on the Irish market.
Let us be realistic about the scale of our infrastructure in terms of rail. We have invested more than €1.5 billion in recent times and will be spending more in terms of upgrading the quality, track signalling and all the safety issues. In terms of infrastructure, we have made the rail system attractive to operators by putting rolling stock onto it because they know they are getting a very good system in place. Accordingly, we already have a substantial international operator, a name which will be known to everyone internationally, interested in coming onto the Irish market. I have already told the Department that when the opportunity arises early next year, that operator will be seeking a licence. That is very good news.
I agree with the Minister that in the past it seemed that only long distance rail freight was economically viable. However, change is now occurring. Does the Minister accept that this situation will almost certainly change further for environmental reasons? Road freight will become increasingly expensive as petrol costs grow because we will probably have increasing supply instability in the future. It would thus be folly on our part to allow what is currently going on, which in effect is the disposing of capacity by Iarnród Éireann, the selling off of almost new wagons, the removal of track and so on. Will the Minister agree to stop this? It may be five, ten or 20 years before it becomes economically viable but some day we will reap the folly of that if we allow this to go on.
The Minister said that one operator came along and then left because he could not get private sector people interested. Just because one operator fails to do his marketing should not be a reason to write the market off for everyone. Will the Minister act as a regulator and not refer interested parties to negotiate with CIE, which has made it clear to those who approached it in the past that it does not want competition? It is up to the Minister to ensure the opportunities exist when we have full liberalisation. I am delighted to hear there is an operator interested but it is up to the Minister to ensure that we capitalise on that opportunity.
I can put on the record, because it is already known, that the company which came and did the deal, and publicly stated that Iarnród Éireann did everything to facilitate it, was the Norfolk Line which runs major railways internationally. I was at the meeting, which was not organised by me, where it made its statement. The problem is that getting the unit load from the factory door to where the railhead is, getting it on, storing it, getting it off and organising its collection at the other end, involves a truck. Those costs become prohibitive. That is the difficulty. The point made by Deputies Ryan and Mitchell is an interesting one and it is correct. As we put more pressure on our environmental issues there may well be a cost benefit to operators looking back to rail. That is the reason we have made huge investment in the infrastructure. No rail infrastructure will ever be removed again, certainly as long as Fianna Fáil is in Government. That is the reason we have invested to date.
Iarnród Éireann is selling off new wagons.
That is why we have invested up to €900 million.
It was a Fianna Fáil Government that did it before.
The new wagons that would take these super——
Deputy Cowley has tabled Question No. 10. I would like to take it because he has been sitting patiently in the House all afternoon. There are three minutes left for this question. I am happy to take a short supplementary from Deputy Joe Higgins and Deputy Catherine Murphy and a final reply from the Minister. We will try to facilitate Deputy Cowley but the Chair has no control over it because at 4.45 p.m. I have to call an end to Question Time.
Deputy Cowley should be facilitated.
Why?
My supplementary will take only 30 seconds. In the last two hours in an astounding development, stormtrooper type security has taken over the Isle of Inishmore and Ulysses ferries and locked in the crew at the behest of Irish Ferries management as part of its campaign to replace the workers with eastern European exploited labour. This is an outrageous development. Will the Minister come into the House before the end of this session today, on behalf of the Government, and make a statement on the Government’s attitude to this incredible act of high sea piracy on foot of Irish Ferries campaign to sack 540 workers and replace them with the most exploited labour from eastern Europe and taking this unprecedented action today on the high seas in Pembroke and in Holyhead? Will the Minister come into the House before the——
This question has nothing to do with Irish Ferries. The Deputy has denied Deputy Cowley a question. I call Deputy Catherine Murphy.
The Minister has answered the question I was going to ask.
I have answered all the supplementary questions relevant to the question before the House. The Government and I are committed to facilitating in any way we possibly can the development of rail freight.
10 Dr. Cowley asked the Minister for Transport his views on whether a greater than recognised number of road traffic accidents are due to road conditions; the steps he is taking to ensure that public safety is protected through proper observance of recommendations that already exist and may not be complied with or enforced, which enforcement would ensure a major reduction in road traffic accidents due to road conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35847/05]
The latest available analysis from the National Roads Authority, NRA, of the factors contributing to fatal and injury accidents, as published in Road Collision Facts — Ireland 2003, indicates that behaviour of drivers, 86%, and pedestrians, 10%, are the key contributory factors, whereas road factors were identified as contributory factors in only 2.8% of fatal and serious injury collisions. The corresponding figures for 1998 were 79% driver behaviour, 12% pedestrians, and 5% road conditions. We have almost halved the road conditions factor.
However, despite the fact that the level of injuries and fatalities that can be directly attributed to road related issues is relatively small and decreasing, it is still vitally important that any risk posed by the road is minimised. In recognition of this the NRA funds an extensive programme of engineering works with the aim of improving road safety and dealing with accident blackspots on national roads.
The NRA has an extensive high risk accident blackspot remedial programme that aims to reduce the number and severity of accidents occurring on the existing network of national roads. An average of 80 such locations are treated each year. In addition the NRA has introduced a new initiative this year, the high cost remedial measures programme, where more expensive works are required to solve the accident problems at particular locations. A total of 12 sites has been targeted this year, at a cost of almost €2 million.
The major investment in the upgrade of the national roads network, in excess of €18 billion over the lifetime of Transport 21, is also delivering a major road safety dividend. New roads, constructed to best practice standards, help to reduce road accidents and fatalities. The safe management of road improvement works is a matter for the road authorities involved and their contractors. I understand that requirements and standards in regard to pavement improvement works and resurfacing and the signage of such works are set out in the NRA specification for road works and two circular letters issued by the NRA in March and May 2002. I understand that the NRA has since consolidated and re-issued these circulars supplementing, where appropriate, the previous guidance.
The timely completion of road improvement works in accordance with these requirements is a matter for the local authority concerned and, as part of its overall supervision of the national roads programme, the NRA.
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for accommodating me. The Minister said road factors contribute to only 2.5% of fatal injuries. I think road factors account for a much higher percentage of fatal injuries. I raised this issue on a previous occasion in the case of Aisling Gallagher who died just after St. Stephen's day last year. I was asked by the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Callely, to submit information——
Has the Deputy got a question? We are running out of time.
Why did the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, not come back to me even though I submitted all the information on that case? Why did the NRA not take responsibility for this accident which was due to road conditions? Why is there not a centre for public safety as recommended in the 2000 report? Why does not somebody shout "Stop"? In the Kentstown accident, road conditions were to blame but it looks as if there will be a cover up in this case.
The Deputy has made his point.
Until criminal responsibility is sorted out the road conditions will not be looked at. Surely Meath County Council is culpable in respect of road conditions.
I would sympathise with any family that has lost a family member under any circumstance, tragic circumstances, road accidents and so on. That goes for all of us in the House. I simply made the point in reply to the Deputy's question that the latest figures show that road factors were responsible for only 2.8% of fatal and serious injury accidents. I went on to say that notwithstanding that relatively low figure it is vital to continue to invest in the roads programme. We are investing in quality new roads and have innovative programmes to upgrade existing roads. That is a small figure in terms of the overall proportion. I would like to see a huge improvement in driver behaviour, given that 86% of fatal and serious injuries are caused by driver behaviour. Therefore, it comes down to individual responsibility.
The regulations are not in place.
Since we are heading into the Christmas season I ask people throughout the country to respect themselves, the road and other road users by driving with great care over this Christmas.
There are no road safety regulations for road hogs.
Let us, collectively, try to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on our roads.
A Cheann Comhairle-——
We have gone way over time on Question Time today.
Will the Minister make a statement on behalf of the Government on this extraordinary development at Irish Ferries ? I believe he should. He is trying to avoid this incredible situation.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
