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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 26 Mar 2009

Vol. 678 No. 4

Adjournment Debate.

Road Safety.

I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Transport with responsibility for road safety, Deputy Noel Ahern, for being in the House. I welcome this opportunity to speak on the national roads programme and road safety, particularly in light of an extremely serious road accident that occurred in my constituency in Slane, County Meath, on Monday. The accident involved a lorry, delivery truck and seven cars which collided on the main N2 road in the centre of the village. Some seven people and a young baby were brought to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and, thank God, nobody sustained serious injuries. My thoughts are with those caught up in the incident and the gardaí and emergency services who performed wonderful work on the day. However, this accident highlights yet again the need for a review of road safety on the N2 and in particular the urgent need for the NRA and the Minister to proceed with a bypass of Slane.

It is unfortunate that yet again the front page headlines of the Meath Chronicle describe an accident in Slane. I have another newspaper article from 1 September 2002 whose headline is: “Yet another road accident in Slane.” As most people know, Slane is an elegant hillside village of outstanding natural beauty overlooking the Boyne. Many of the problems, although not all of them and not those this week, are caused by the N2 bridge over the River Boyne. This is a very historic village, proud to be associated with Francis Ledwidge and many other people from St. Erc down through the ages. However, over the past 40 years Slane has become choked with heavy traffic and this affects the social, community and commercial life of the village. More than 20 people have lost their lives at Slane bridge. There are accidents there on a regular basis. There was an accident on Monday in the centre of the village and only a few weeks ago there was another accident at the bridge. Accidents happen all the time and there will be more. I am glad I am speaking today in the absence of deaths or serious injuries there this week.

Residents and I have been in regular contact with the NRA and the Minister for Transport to ensure that the Slane bypass progresses. However, residents are not entirely happy with progress on the issue. The NRA has kept in touch with me on the issue and it has completed some studies and reviews, but it is time for shovels, spades, JCBs and earth movers to get this job under way. The argument in favour of it is utterly compelling. According to the census, people in my constituency are more likely than people anywhere else to own a car and to use it for daily commuting. That is a fact. This has clear implications for transport provision and infrastructure in the community. While that shows the need for even more public transport than we have, it has implications for road safety. Meath has the fastest growing population of any county outside Dublin. It has grown by more than 22% in the past seven years.

When complete, the Slane bypass would enable motorists to bypass Slane and also remove rat-running traffic from surrounding county roads. However, the M1 connects very conveniently to Ardee for traffic which needs to go north of Ardee up to County Monaghan and beyond, but that traffic does not use the M1. There are issues for the NRA and Meath County Council to discuss outside this Chamber and I would like the Minister to bring that to their attention. There are arguments to ban lorries from the village at certain times of the day and the Minister may refer that to the NRA because that is an issue for it.

A large amount of money has been allocated for roads, as has just been discussed, and it is very important to keep building and planning our roads with the primary objective of reducing carnage, preventing accidents and allowing communities such as Slane to grow, prosper and celebrate, and to develop the important heritage they have in that village.

I thank Deputy Thomas Byrne for raising the matter. The Government already has a policy which provides for priority to be given to safety in our road networks around the country. This is reflected in the significant amounts of funding provided for our national road network in recent years. In the three years, 2006 to 2008, almost €5 billion was invested in capital projects related to the national road network, with a further €1.44 billion being invested this year. All this funding is resulting in significant improvements being made to our road infrastructure, which is most readily seen in the work under way on the major inter urban, MIU, routes between Dublin and Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Galway and the Border. The MIU between Dublin and the Border has been completed and work is under way on the remainder, with sections along those routes open to traffic.

All five routes will be open to traffic by end 2010. In addition to enhancing prospects for economic development, particularly in the current economic environment, stimulating increased tourism and improving access within regions, better roads also deliver significant safety benefits. High quality dual carriageways and motorways are proven to be seven times safer than the roads they replace. By opening more than 150 km of new roads in 2009, we will make a significant contribution to the safety of our national road network. The National Road Authority, NRA, also uses part of its annual funding allocation to identify and improve sections of road, which are the scenes of accidents.

I acknowledge the Deputy's comments on the recent road accident in Slane. Specific projects are a matter for the NRA rather than the Minister but €500,000 has been allocated this year by the authority for the planning of the Slane bypass. Planning of the project must be approved before it can be constructed. Funding will be considered but that will depend on the economic climate at the time. However, significant funding has been allocated to the planning side this year.

Bigger and better roads are only one aspect of improving road safety. A tangible difference can be made only if each and every road user takes personal responsibility and drives carefully and at a speed appropriate to the conditions. Much work has been achieved to improve driver behaviour and training through the work of the Road Safety Authority, RSA, in the past few years and the road safety strategy, which was approved by Government in October 2007. It contains 126 different actions or initiatives under the headings of education, enforcement, engineering and evaluation with a number of different agencies having responsibility and target completion dates.

The strategy's primary target is to reduce road deaths to not more than 60 per million of population by the end of 2012, which equates to an average of 21 road deaths per month or 252 deaths per year. The average number of road deaths per month in 2007 was 28 and last year the number reduced to 23. The first two months of this year were good but this month, up to last weekend, was bad. This week was better but, up to last weekend, this month was the worst so far this year. The strategy is being successfully implemented across a range of agencies and there has been a sustained reduction in the number of people killed on our roads.

The penalty points system and the introduction of mandatory testing of drivers for alcohol, coupled with high visibility enforcement by the Garda, have lead to significant reductions in fatalities. The increased levels of enforcement measures by the Garda has led to a change in attitude and a visible change in behaviour, an improvement in driving habits and a reduction in the number of people who senselessly drive while intoxicated. The lowest number of road deaths on record, at 279, occurred last year. Records began in the late 1950s. The worst year was 1972 when 670 people were killed. Both injuries and fatalities must be considered in conjunction with the overall population and the number of vehicles on the road, both of which have increased in recent years — 1 million additional vehicles in ten years. Injuries and fatalities relative to population and vehicle numbers have declined noticeably in recent years. In the past decade fatalities as measured against the number of vehicles have more than halved, which is the result of a combination of both the road safety and road investment programmes.

While the number of fatalities has reduced, the loss of even one life on our roads is one too many and it is a tragedy. I acknowledge the Deputy's comments. Driving through Slane village is a particular problem. Money is being spent on the planning of the bypass this year and, as soon as that is ready, the project will be in the pot for completion.

Road Network.

I thank the Minister of State for taking this matter on the Adjournment. I deplore the Government decision to halt the building of 78 major road schemes, including the N2 Dublin to Derry primary route from Clontibret, County Monaghan, to the border with County Tyrone. This involves the essential bypass of the village of Emyvale, which is vital primarily for safety reasons, as the volume of traffic passing along the 8 km stretch between Monaghan town and the Border at Moy Bridge through the village remains life threatening.

This latest roads debacle is another example of the gross mismanagement of Fianna Fáil-led Governments over the past decade and more. Through the early years of the Celtic tiger, the Government presided over a scandalous situation where contractors for major roads were allowed to run hugely over budget and well over time at massive expense to the State. There clearly was a massive rip-off by some of those so engaged. Eventually the Government got its act together to some extent and major road projects were finally required to be completed on time and on tighter budgets, following a massive uproar about the waste of public money. Now in straitened economic circumstances, the Government wants to halt these important and essential projects.

The news that the road scheme I have cited, along with 77 others, has been halted with immediate effect will be greeted with dismay by many people. The most disappointed, undoubtedly, will be the people of Monaghan town, north Monaghan and Emyvale who suffer daily the real dangers and many difficulties associated with traffic along this route. They have been promised by Government on several occasions that this work would be carried out. This road scheme is essential to the entire economy of County Monaghan and the wider Border region, as it is an essential piece of transport infrastructure. It must be remembered this is the crucial link between Derry and the north west and Dublin.

What presentation is this to the people of Six Counties, as we seek to encourage people of traditional Unionist outlook of the benefits of an all-Ireland approach to our shared needs in the future? The first introduction to many driving south is this outrageously dangerous stretch of roadway. Where stands the planned co-operation with the Department of the Environment in the Six Counties? The N2 upgrade was to link up with the A5 upgrade north of the Border and the Government was to make a significant contribution to the works in counties Tyrone and Derry. Where stands that commitment?

The Government's decision not only in regard to this north Monaghan project but all 78 projects across the State is ill-conceived as it will lead directly to increased redundancies and will be another blow to the already depressed construction industry. I call on Fianna Fáil and the Green Party to reverse this retrograde move in the interest of motorist safety, in the first instance, with jobs also much to the fore of my thoughts as I make this case. It is not only a question of job creation but of sustaining those who still happen to have employment in roadmaking works around the country. These projects were a lifeline for many of those people who moved from one scheme to another. This is the most short-sighted proposition that this Government has put forward in recent times.

We do not need to close the door on infrastructural development but to realise that this is the optimum time for making real investment in infrastructure, recognising that money is cheap, that there is a readily available labour force willing to take up job opportunities in construction projects. Now is the time to move on with these development projects, to sustain jobs, create work and be in a position throughout the island to avail of new opportunities that will present themselves when the economy turns, sooner hopefully than many suggest. There has been a real failure to invest, particularly in the Border counties, the midlands and the west. This is another indication of the Government's failure to recognise the importance of the Border counties and the link to the north west of the island, counties Donegal, Derry and Tyrone.

The Minister for Transport has responsibility for overall policy and funding for the national roads programme element of Transport 21. The implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for the National Roads Authority under the Roads Act 1993 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.

The Deputy's suggestion that the roads programme has almost been cancelled is nonsense. This year, the Government provided a budget to the NRA of nearly €1.5 billion, one of the largest single annual investments in road infrastructure in the history of the State. This investment programme represents an average investment of €120 million per month in Ireland's national roads. That is a huge investment and allocation of resources. The Deputy's comments to the effect that the programme has been almost halted are nonsensical.

The figures I have quoted demonstrate this Government's commitment to providing for an infrastructure that will allow this country to take full advantage of the upturn in the economy when it comes. The current economic climate and the difficult and rapidly worsening position of the Exchequer have had an impact on the Government and the NRA's ambitious plans for the development of the road network that this country needs.

In view of the severe constraints on Exchequer finances, and in light of the forthcoming budget, the Government has now re-prioritised all national development plan expenditure for the rest of this year to concentrate on employment intensive projects. Every Department in receipt of NDP funding has been asked to ensure that no new contractual commitments are entered into before sign-off by the Department of Finance. This will allow the Government to have maximum discretion in future allocations. There is no halting of the programme. The Departments could work ahead on the programmes in the NDP but the situation has changed and it is important for the Department of Finance to be able to keep an eye on what is happening and approve individual sign-offs. That does not halt anything, that is good management, controlling the situation and keeping an eye on the resources and signing long-term contracts accordingly.

The NRA is so far advanced on the delivery of the major inter-urban routes, with all five routes now either under construction or open to traffic that most of its funds for 2009 are contractually committed. Approximately €50 million of the allocation is not committed. This money will finance a range of other projects around the country, including the Castleisland by-pass, which will be the only major construction project to start this year. That is the way the work has flowed because the continuing work, such as the M50 around Dublin, and other massive projects, is contractually tied. As soon as that work is finished next year the budget will be available for other projects to be approved.

My Department has written to the Department of Finance outlining the expenditure programmes its agencies propose to undertake for the remainder of 2009 and seeking that Department's sanction for those programmes. This includes the NRA's proposed programme of minor roadworks on both national primary and national secondary roads, as well as planning and preparatory works on a range of other projects.

I expect that the Department of Finance will respond to my Department about these matters following the budget on 7 April. The total capital provision for regional and local roads is €468 million of which approximately €95 million is already committed. The Department of Finance recently sanctioned expenditure of €150 million and local authorities will be advised immediately following the supplementary budget what projects can proceed under this restored sanction.

Further information is available about the roads under construction but it is not fair to say that 70 roads have been halted or anything like that. The Department of Finance wants to give specific approval for major contracts before they go out——

That is exactly what was said. That was the wording used.

The situation has changed. There is a shortage of money. It is important that somebody at the top approves the contracts. That does not mean that work has been stopped. It is a case of the Department of Finance having an overview of the situation. Most of the money for this year is contractually tied so there are no cutbacks there. When the five major inter-urban routes are finished next year other routes will be lined up for approval.

Planning Issues.

I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Transport for coming to the House to deal with these matters. I am disappointed, however, that the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has neither attended here whenever this matter has been raised, nor in his constituency when local meetings have been held over recent months. It shows a certain contempt for the people who elected him but I suppose I would say that.

There is an urgent need for the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to at the minimum postpone the section 25 process for the Dublin Docklands Development Authority's proposed planning scheme for the Poolbeg peninsula. It has raised ethical concerns about banks, commercial interests, developers and the authority and the complex web of relationships between these individuals and corporate entities. This is a significant scheme which will have a profound effect on people not only in the Sandymount and Ringsend area but in the city. There has been no provision for transport and other infrastructure to support this massive scheme.

The premise of the scheme is worrying. It will allow the Dublin Docklands Development Authority become its own planning authority for a vast tract of land which is an important public amenity. Anyone who lives in Dublin city probably uses or has used it. It is also an area of significant flooding that affects the canal and the Dodder, Tolka and Liffey rivers. This is not merely a local issue but is very much a city-wide one. It is also a matter of national concern, for a number of reasons that I will outline.

Three fiascos are currently connected to the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. One is the Becbay investment scheme in the Irish Glass Bottle site, a greatly questionable endeavour involving a number of people. The CEO of the authority until last month, Mr. Paul Moloney, stated that no interest has been paid since last June on the loan of almost €300 million put forward to purchase the IGB site. This raises a very significant question with regard to the solvency of the DDDA and Deputy Phil Hogan raised the matter at the relevant Oireachtas committee. There are major concerns among the public and they have not been answered by the Minister. The matter has not been dealt with and we have not had any meaningful clarification.

Let us bear in mind that the Dublin Docklands Development Authority was established by my very fine constituency colleague, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, the former Minister for Finance in the Fine Gael-led rainbow Government of 1994-97. It was done as part of a rejuvenation scheme for the city centre, based on commercial intent but also to offer a very important social dimension for the area. What has been happening in the DDDA over the past number of years has deviated so far from those original objectives that serious questions must now be answered.

There is the issue of the newly appointed chairman of the DDDA, Mr. McCaughey, who was appointed by the same Minister, Deputy John Gormley. Mr. McCaughey was forced to resign in recent days as a result of what can only be described as very questionable behaviour with regard to payment of taxes. This raises significant questions over the judgment of the Minister and how much of a handle he really has on what is going on in the various authorities under his Ministry, particularly the DDDA.

There is the very important issue of the links between the recently nationalised Anglo Irish Bank and the DDDA. Two directors of the authority were directors of Anglo Irish Bank at the time of the Becbay deal, a very serious conflict of interest. According to the DDDA's last annual report, it paid €964,648 to companies that had direct links with three of its directors. One such was Arup Consulting, one of whose directors was a member of the DDDA board; another relates to PricewaterhouseCoopers; and we are very much aware of the Anglo Irish Bank connections. These are major questions of public interest and the Minister, Deputy Gormley, must get to the bottom of them before he gives any sanction to, or stands over this project going ahead.

In any case, this project is not viable because it is proposed on the basis of completely flawed planning grounds——

The Deputy must conclude.

——and fanciful transport plans that will never happen. Already we have had two matters raised on the Adjournment with regard to transport plans that will not happen under Transport 21.

These plans are not even contained in that. There is a Luas line that will never be built. We need answers and I am sorry that the Minister is not here to give them.

I shall try to give the Deputy the factual position on behalf of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, but if I may, I will keep away from the politics of Dublin South-East.

As the Deputy knows, the authority was established under the Dublin Docklands Development Authority Act 1997, to lead the physical, economic, social and cultural regeneration of Dublin's docklands.

Section 24 of that Act requires the authority to prepare a master plan for the docklands area, setting out objectives for its social and economic regeneration. The authority's most recent master plan was adopted only a few months ago, in November 2008, following a comprehensive public consultation process. It envisaged the development of the Poolbeg area following the preparation of a comprehensive planning scheme.

The authority has now prepared and published a draft planning scheme for the Poolbeg peninsula under section 25 of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority Act. The draft plan details how it is envisaged that the area covered by the plan should be developed, and sets out policies in respect of land use, distribution and location of development, overall design, transportation, the development of amenities, and conservation. Copies of the Poolbeg planning scheme and the related environmental impact statement are available for inspection at various locations throughout the docklands. The closing date for submissions is 9 April. I am sure the Deputy knows this.

That follows a consultation period of 62 days. The final draft planning scheme will be submitted to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, for his consideration later this year.

It is entirely a matter for the authority to prepare a draft planning scheme and to carry out the necessary consultations. In accordance with the Act, once a draft planning scheme is finalised and submitted to the Minister, and, following consultation with the Minister for Finance and consideration of any objections from Dublin City Council, the Minister, Deputy Gormley, has the option, at that stage, of approving the draft planning scheme, with or without modification. That is when his formal role, in accordance with the Act, comes into play. The Minister has no function in the preparation of the planning scheme prior to its submission for approval.

As provided for in section 18 of the Act, the authority, which is self-financing, has since its establishment, engaged in extensive business transactions including the purchase, management, development and sale of lands in the area.

The authority, through its involvement in a joint venture company, Becbay, made a significant investment in the acquisition of the Irish Glass Bottle, IGB, site in Poolbeg. The authority's involvement in Becbay, and the position of certain former directors of the authority, who were also directors of Anglo Irish Bank, with regard to the decision making process leading to the acquisition of the IGB site, were the subject of extensive debate with DDDA officials at the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on 10 February. I am sure the Deputy attended. The DDDA advised the committee that the process was conducted in full compliance with the authority's code of conduct.

The Minister has the responsibility to investigate these issues.

Please allow the Minister speak.

The Minister expects to be in a position shortly to announce the appointment of a new chair of the authority. It will be a matter for the chair, the board and the executive of the authority to ensure that the completion of the drafting of the Poolbeg planning scheme, and its subsequent implementation including development of the IGB site, is closely managed in the interests of the sustainable social and economic regeneration of the area.

I hope I have outlined for the Deputy the Minister's role, in accordance with the Act. He will have the say in the decision making process when it comes to him but that has not yet happened.

I thank the Minister of State. I hope that the Minister, Deputy Gormley, has better luck with his second stab at the appointment.

Institutes of Technology.

In February 2006 Waterford Institute of Technology made a formal application to the Department of Education and Science in pursuit of university status. The submission embraces constituent campuses throughout the south east. There was an expectation by the institute at the time that a body of national and international education experts would be set up to adjudicate the merits of the institute's case and then report to the Higher Education Authority.

More than three years later, I tabled a parliamentary question last Tuesday, asking the Minister for Education and Science to request the Higher Education Authority to recommend, as provided for under section 9.1 of the Universities Act 1997, the membership of a body to include international experts and national experts for appointment by the Government. This body would advise the Higher Education Authority whether Waterford Institute of Technology should be established as the university of the south east.

The Minister's reply was clear. He stated there are no plans to advance any of the current applications for university status before the strategy group on higher education reports. The Minister has asked the group to report to him with a two-decade roadmap for the development of the sector before the end of the year. There is no guarantee that it will report on time and if previous adherence to timeframes around the Waterford Institute of Technology application is repeated, it could be quite some time before the report is produced.

The Minister stated that applications have been received for designation as universities from Waterford Institute of Technology, Dublin Institute of Technology and Cork Institute of Technology. Dublin already has three universities and Cork has one. In addition to universities, Limerick and Galway have institutes of technology. Waterford and the south-east region are alone in not having a university. When we compare the five major cities in terms of spending on third level education, Dublin's spend is more than 11 times that of Waterford, Cork spends almost four times as much and Galway and Limerick have three times Waterford's spend.

One tactic used by Fianna Fáil to delay commencing the statutory process of assessment for the WIT application announced by the then Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, in advance of the 2007 general election was that a preliminary assessment of the submission would be made by Dr. Jim Port, a UK-based independent consultant. This was a ploy to get Fianna Fáil through the election by giving the impression that something real was happening on the application. Dr. Port's report was finally published in February 2008. In it, he described the Waterford Institute of Technology application as a serious one that raised a number of issues for the Government but contained nothing inherent to prevent its consideration under the existing process. Dr. Port found that WIT has an academic maturity and activity profile in degree and postgraduate training, research and scholarly activity which overlaps with institutions in the Irish university sector and other western countries. He felt that WIT fulfils many of the broader roles of the university, especially in terms of supporting the regional economy and cultural development and knowledge transfer.

There is a brain drain from the south east, with some 7,000 students at any given time studying in universities outside the region. Many of these will never return to live in the region. There is a regional deficit in fourth level education provision and under capacity in research and development. If the south-east region is to be part of Ireland's smart economy, it must have a university.

I am demanding that the statutory process on the WIT application be initiated immediately. This will not cost a great deal of money or impinge on the work of the strategy group. I call on the Government to end its cynicism and evasion and the dishonest ploys which have been repeatedly to avoid progressing the application by WIT for university status.

I am taking this adjournment matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe.

Applications have been received from three institutes of technology, namely, Waterford Institute of Technology, Dublin Institute of Technology and Cork Institute of Technology, for designation as universities. These applications raise significant issues regarding Government policy towards higher education, in particular regarding the existing roles of universities and institutes of technology, which have distinctive missions, provide different levels and types of academic programmes, fulfil different roles in the community and have separate academic and governance structures.

Waterford Institute of Technology is a very important institution and makes a significant contribution to education generally and the economic and social well-being of the south-east region. It has an excellent track record of industry collaboration, particularly in the areas of applied research and curriculum design. The Government wants to see Waterford Institute of Technology further develop its strengths in these areas in line with the objectives of the Government's strategy for science technology and innovation.

Since the applications for university status were received, there have been significant changes in the legislative and regulatory framework governing the institute of technology sector. The Institutes of Technology Act 2006 provides for the creation of a unified management structure framework for higher education in Ireland by bringing the institute of technology sector under the remit of the Higher Education Authority. The legislation also extends significant managerial and academic autonomy to the institutes, with a view to facilitating further development of their roles.

In its review of the Irish higher education sector conducted in 2004, the OECD found that the differentiation of mission within the sector contributed significantly to Irish economic growth and recommended that no further institutional transfers be made to the university sector. Building on the reform agenda that has been under way since the publication of the OECD report five years ago and in recognition of the critical role that the higher education system plays in generating the skills, knowledge and innovation on which Ireland's future competitive advantage depends, the Government believes it is time to develop a new national higher education strategy which will provide a road map for the future development of the sector.

The process to develop a new strategy was launched by the Minister last month and is being led by a high level steering group which draws on national and international expertise and includes representatives from business, community and student interests as well as senior Government officials. The strategy process will examine how well Ireland's higher education system is performing, how it ranks internationally, how well existing resources are being used and how the system can be reconfigured to meet the challenges it will face over the next two decades. The process is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Pending its completion, there are no plans to advance any of the current applications for university status.

I have a feeling that I read a reply on the same issue one year ago. The situation appears to be evolving but I do not think the intention is to mess up Waterford. It is important to formulate long-term Government thinking before making a final decision. I thank the Deputy for raising the matter.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.30 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 31 March 2008.
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