On behalf of the joint committee, I welcome the SDLP delegation, Councillor Margaret Ritchie, MLA, Mr. Tommy Gallagher, MLA, Mr. John Dallat, MLA, and Ms Nuala O'Neill, policy officer. A presentation from the delegation has been circulated. I draw witnesses' attention to the fact that while members of the committee have absolute privilege, this privilege does not apply to witnesses appearing before it. Members are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that they should not comment on, criticise or make charges against a person outside the House or an official by name or in such a way as to make him or her identifiable. I propose that the delegation make a short presentation, after which we will have a question and answer session. Is that agreed? Agreed.
North-South Transportation System: Presentation.
Ms Margaret Ritchie
The SDLP is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the future of transportation on the island. As our party's ongoing "North-South Makes Sense" campaign has highlighted and recent projects have proven, tremendous benefits are to be gained from working together more closely and engaging in joint planning on major infrastructure projects. As the Taoiseach noted in The Sunday Times in February and as the Minister for Finance stated in Derry, the combined spend on infrastructure on the island, North and South, over the next ten years could be in the order of €90 billion to €100 billion. This is a possibility of potentially profound significance. Surely it makes the most basic common sense for all of us that we pool our thinking, planning and resources to ensure that the potential of this unprecedented opportunity for the future is maximised to the full.
The SDLP strongly endorses this view and believes that the work of the joint committee constitutes an important opportunity to deliver better results and value for citizens on both sides of the Border. Our party's ongoing "North-South Makes Sense" campaign highlights the potential of all-Ireland development to improve the lives of people across the island. The SDLP believes that by working together we can help break down barriers that have hindered development and made lives more difficult throughout the island. Simply put, an all-Ireland agenda gives the best guarantee of value for money in infrastructural investment.
Beyond the straight economic merits of joint planning and infrastructure, opportunities are available to address common problems more effectively, sharing experience and resources. One example of this lies in tackling the problem of disparities in regional development. Rural areas west of the rivers Shannon and Bann share certain features and challenges that my colleague from Fermanagh-South Tyrone, Thomas Gallagher, MLA, will address.
The SDLP acknowledges and values the significant co-operation at a practical level between the two Administrations in terms of planning and the provision of transport infrastructure services, particularly in the areas of road and rail safety. In an article in this week's business section of the Belfast Telegraph, a local economist based at Queens University, Mr. John Simpson, highlighted the need for greater cross-Border transport measures which are, he argues, an easy area to address.
Central to the need for balanced regional development are the principles of fairness, equity, equality and social justice, which lie at the very core of the SDLP. We recognise the importance of balanced regional development in targeting social need through investment and job creation. We are working to secure support for the following key proposals to address regional disparity: the establishment of an all-Ireland transport and infrastructure body; greater investment in the development and improvement of our railways, roads, ports and airports; and greater co-ordination of the two spatial planning strategies on the island. My colleague, Mr. John Dallat, MLA for east Derry, will address the issue of railways.
Before any body is established, impetus must be given to North-South transport networks. No brake should be applied in the establishment of that body or the work required to set up those networks. We ask the Irish Government, in particular, to increase its impetus on the British Government to ensure this happens.
The reform and reinvestment initiative for the North has opened the door to a new model of financing public sector investment through government borrowing, in addition to private sector assistance. Through the work of the Strategic Investment Board, we hope to see long-term investment and planning with tangible returns delivering development and sustainability. We must explore the potential benefits to be derived from all-Ireland co-operation on investment and development. We acknowledge the scale of infrastructural investment required in the North and the impact the Strategic Investment Board can have in addressing this need. We also have the opportunity to address the considerable infrastructural deficit experienced in the Border, midlands and western region. Joint work between the National Finance Development Agency and the Strategic Investment Board could contribute to the development of an all-Ireland infrastructure plan to deliver more efficient and co-ordinated development for the benefit of all on the island.
The regional development strategy in the North and the national spatial strategy in the South recognise the need for strong spatial linkages, particularly on the eastern seaboard corridor. This is also required for the western seaboard corridor. The SDLP believes a co-ordinated approach to spatial planning is essential, particularly when one considers the contribution this would make to the creation of an integrated sustainable transport network for the island as a whole. While this approach was endorsed at the joint meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, political pressure is required to ensure a co-ordinated approach to spatial planning is adopted during this periodof direct rule. We await publication of theO'Driscoll report commissioned by InterTrade Ireland, due to be published before Christmas.
Capacity needs to be provided for the North-South institutions. The two Governments need to ensure the immediate restoration of political institutions within the North, between North and South, as well as between Britain and Ireland. There must be the political imperative and the ability to create new North-South institutions and bodies. The SDLP is committed to the creation of an all-Ireland transport and infrastructure body which would produce that strategic development framework for the island, networking air and sea ports and economic corridors and co-ordinating key projects such as the construction of trans-European networks.
We acknowledge that the Irish Government has led debate on this issue with the statements this year of the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, particularly in Culloden, some weeks ago, and in Templepatrick. Last February the Taoiseach was reported in the Sunday Times as committing significant financial resources on a joint basis to develop the infrastructure on the island in the next 20 to 50 years.
We have witnessed the Irish Government's direct financial investment in Derry city airport, which will have major economic consequences for the north west. Collaboration has already taken place on the new Dundalk-Newry road under the operational authority of road service in the North. Vigorous pragmatic collaboration is required.
The recently published transport plan here makes a commitment to the North-South agenda with clearly designated commitments to improve substantially the N2, N3, N4 and N5. There are corresponding networks in the North because they all have cross-Border connections. There are similar opportunities within the western corridor.
This new all-Ireland transport and infrastructure body could give substance and impetus to the following components: implementation and delivery of an all-Ireland free travel scheme for senior citizens and the disabled in order to bring immediate delivery to people on the ground as all politics are local; and harmonisation of road and rail safety measures on the island. A defined North-South approach is required with the spiralling number of deaths on our roads. Greater co-operation is required between the Road Safety Council in Northern Ireland and the Republic's National Safety Council. In addition, such a body could give substance and impetus to joint planning for EU support on cross-Border routes; co-ordination of both spatial planning strategies providing a focus for meaningful investment, economic, commercial and job opportunities; and investigation and implementation of a scheme and the provision of resources to reduce travel times between Belfast and Dublin. In that respect, I refer, in particular, to the Enterprise rail service. Committee members who visited us in the Assembly some months ago will have realised that the travel times between both principal cities are too long.
Other components include: improved timetables for Belfast-Dublin rail commuter services, with an increased number of such services; development of the western rail network by providing it with the capacity to extend to Letterkenny and investment in the Belfast-Derry rail link which has a North-South dimension; a commitment from the two Governments to provide resources to improve the Belfast-Derry rail link and, in so doing, reduce journey times as part of an integral package of all-Ireland rail measures to pump-prime the local economy, including tourism and job creation; providing resources on a joint governmental basis for the improvement of the A6, the Castledawson to Derry road, as part of the Donegal to Belfast network, thus opening up the north west; and developing road links on the Sligo-Enniskillen-Belfast, Dublin-Derry and Dundalk-Sligo transport corridors.
I am well aware that there has been no take-up in County Louth for the cross-Border rural transport initiative. There is a need to open up Border areas on a cross-Border basis. I am conscious of a survey carried out by the Joint Business Council in November 2004. That report stated 62% of respondent companies felt the availability of public transport across the Border was either very important or fairly important. Some 56% thought the cost of cross-Border transport was important.
Another important aspect is the provision of financial resources for our secondary road network in the North to provide strategic links from the south east to the Belfast-Dublin corridor. Such links should be included in the investment strategy about to be published. Other aspects include the increased use of our air routes on an all-island basis and the exploration of projects to address regional imbalance, for example, at Narrowater Bridge between Warrenpoint, County Down, and Cooley, County Louth. All of these proposals would pump-prime our economic and tourism opportunities alongside the need for job creation.
We must all act collectively to ensure the establishment of such a body. It is extremely important that, with this new all-Ireland body, a new joint governmental approach to infrastructure proposals on the island be adopted to remove the impediments of the past. There needs to be a political imperative on the part of the two Governments — we freely acknowledge that the Irish Government is totally committed to this — to remove the legacy of deprivation along the Border, together with the feeling of isolation and marginalisation caused by partition and to ensure there is no copper-fastening of the inequities and inequalities of the past. We hope the joint co-ordination work on both spatial strategies will try to eradicate the inequities and inequalities of the past.
Balanced regional development must provide opportunities for the south east and the west. We must all be able to derive benefit and economic well-being from such proposals throughout the island.
During devolution North-South co-operation and joint implementation were shown not only to be viable but also valuable. In recent years, through Tourism Ireland, we have successfully marketed the whole island as a tourist destination. It would be logical to have co-ordinated transport arrangements when tourists arrive. Joint arrangements also make sense in terms of improving trade and labour mobility. By means of infrastructural investment and balanced regional development, we can develop our economy, build communities and maximise the potential of Ireland, North and South, as a good place in which to invest. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland got into trouble in North America last week for claiming that it would become increasingly difficult in future decades to look at the economies of North and South other than in terms of the island of Ireland. There will be increasing economic synergy between North and South.
When the announcement on the Newry to Dundalk road was made by the Ministers for Transport and Foreign Affairs, a member of the Joint Business Council from the Port of Larne noted that the improvement would raise the prospects of faster and safer journeys, more predictable journey times, improved linkages between companies in regional cross-Border areas and viable strategic road networks to ports and airports. When completed, these road developments will result in increased competitiveness among small and medium-sized companies, a goal which remains a major priority for Northern and Southern businesses. Irrespective of types of businesses or small communities involved, joint efforts on North-South issues, particularly in the area of all-Ireland transport services, are vitally important to our survival.
I will speak in more detail about the Border region, an area in which elected representatives in adjacent constituencies share a common interest. I am happy to have the opportunity to speak to this matter because it is important that we co-ordinate our efforts in the development of roads, particularly in Border areas. We should build on the ongoing work of councillors, North and South, in the three Border regions and the steps being taken to allow co-operation among Members of the Dáil and representatives of the Northern Ireland Assembly by getting MEPs from various parties to bring their thoughts to bear on the matter. That would help to develop a better vision for a road network to serve Border areas.
I am sure it is not news to members that the back-to-back developments we experienced until recently have left Border areas behind. In terms of the economy and social welfare, these areas remain neglected. If the Governments continue with separate approaches to the development of infrastructure, the region will remain behind other EU regions.
The EU commitment to balanced regional development presents an opportunity to devise a strategy to attract investment to upgrade roads. If we are to make the best possible case in attracting investment, we should begin to prepare our plans within an all-Ireland framework. Some of the current problems arise when cross-Border roads are given different priority ratings. A road on one side of the Border may be given high priority by one Government but not by the other. The economic potential of Border areas cannot be fully realised while we continue to operate two separate strategies for the development of our infrastructure. It is essential to develop an all-Ireland framework, to have a clear vision and to have agreed priorities on the way forward.
In the interests of balanced regional development, some of the key issues to be addressed are the historical lack of investment in roads, poor access in this regard and the serious implications this has for business and industry in longer journey times which result in higher costs for manufacturing industry in the region. Tourism potential remains to be realised. Given that 90% of foreign visitors come here through either Dublin or Belfast, it is obvious the current road infrastructure restricts tourism potential.
I spoke about the EU commitment. Members will be aware of the EU principle of subsidiarity of the regions. If we concentrate on this, then the two Governments should be able make a reality better roads infrastructure to serve that part of Ireland. I want, in particular, to mention key links such as the Sligo-Belfast, Dundalk-Sligo and Derry-Dublin routes. In addition, the Government strategies for the Border areas have identified towns for growth, more commonly known as hubs or gateways. If such towns are to benefit and the economy is to grow, we need to improve the network of roads linking these hubs and gateways. Some of the towns involved are Enniskillen, Cavan, Monaghan, Omagh, Strabane, Sligo and Letterkenny. It is only through the co-ordinated efforts of our elected representatives that there will be a marked improvement.
Mr. John Dallat
I thank the joint committee for giving us this unique and historic opportunity to give evidence before it on an important subject. Ms Ritchie indicated I wished to speak, in particular, about the future of the Belfast-Derry rail line, while not wishing in any way to ignore the Belfast-Dublin rail line, on which we travelled today, with the hundreds of other commuters who increasingly move between Belfast and Dublin. However, there is another part of the island where rail travel is important. On the reason this should impact on the committee, the Belfast-Derry rail line runs through the grounds of Derry Airport, in which the Irish Government has an interest, an interest which is already paying enormous dividends for the north west, including counties Derry and Donegal.
The Belfast-Derry rail line is described by Translink as one of the lesser used lines. Following publication of the Booz Hamilton Allen report — the same company which prepared a report for the Republic of Ireland — agreement was reached that £23.6 billion would be invested during the next five years. However, most of that money has been poured into what Translink describes as the showcase lines from Portadown to Belfast, Larne and so on. The future of the Belfast-Derry rail line, particularly beyond Ballymena or Coleraine, remains at risk with no review until 2007 when the Department hopes to report on what increased business has been generated as a result of the introduction of 23 new CAF trains. I am glad to inform the committee that the increased traffic generated between Derry and Belfast is approximately 6%, which indicates public support for the line. If the service was to be discontinued at Ballymena or Coleraine, it would make a complete nonsense of the all-island strategy which the Government of the Republic published some time ago. The reason the SDLP is attending this meeting is to urge the Government to engage with its counterparts in the North and the European Union in the interests of an all-Ireland strategy and to work in a joint capacity to ensure we have an all-island rail network. For those interested in history, when the line was threatened, CIE gave a subvention, funded by the Government, to the rail company in Northern Ireland to ensure goods would continue to be transported from Dublin to County Donegal. Today, the emphasis is on commuters and, in particular, tourists.
We need to ensure all the principal cities, North and South, are linked by good intercity rail services. The people of Derry are as deserving of this as those from other cities. I appeal to the Government to give its full support to the rail network and continue to invest in it in the north west, as it has already invested in roads and the airport.
I have a list of speakers. For the information of Deputy Morgan, the rule of the committee is that members of the committee have first call and others are then invited to contribute.
I understand the procedure and agree with it.
I welcome the delegation from the SDLP. I apologise that I missed the greater part of Councillor Ritchie's contribution. However, she has my full support. At a previous committee meeting IBEC made similar points on adopting a more holistic approach to investment in transport. I fully subscribe to investment in an inter-urban rail service between Dublin and Derry, which is almost uncharted territory.
Both North and South would benefit from an all-Ireland approach to investment in the railway service. Significant capital investment is required and one needs a certain level of population to justify it economically. Combining the population, North and South, offers the potential for a service on both sides of the Border. I certainly support this proposal.
I join Deputy Olivia Mitchell in welcoming Councillor Ritchie and her colleagues. This is the first time I have attended a committee meeting where we have received a delegation from the Northern Ireland Assembly and I hope it will be the first of many. I hope it is a sign of things to come, not just in terms of transport but also co-operation across all sectors of government. When one listened to Councillor Ritchie's presentation, one realised the hindrance caused by a line on a map and the difficulties created in day-to-day living. We have tended to overlook the practical difficulties created by our political history. We must grasp every opportunity to deal with this in a constructive manner
Councillor Ritchie's presentation is welcome and I hope it will be the start of a constructive and worthwhile dialogue.
The presentation was related almost entirely to road and rail transport, although there was mention of airports and sea ports. To what extent is the transport system in the North integrated? If everything on the current wish list were possible, would we have an appropriate, viable system or are there other requirements which must be met to provide us with a fully integrated system? The Chairman, Senator Burke and I have recently returned from a visit to Prague where we saw on a localised scale the very significant added value arising from total integration of the transport system. I would, therefore, be interested in hearing the delegates' comments on the issue. I thank them for coming to what I hope is the first of many such meetings. Without wishing to presume anything, visits by members of this committee to the North are also called for in the interests of developing and continuing dialogue.
I also welcome our friends from north of the Border. I have been very impressed by the clarity and practicality of the contributions made. While I have no difficulty in supporting the delegates, we discovered on a previous occasion that the committee was prohibited from wandering into environmental issues when we considered issues related to the Hill of Tara. I doubt, therefore, if we could travel quite so far as endorsing all-Ireland institutions of a parliamentary nature, much as some of us might be happily prepared to do so.
This meeting represents the non-threatening approach to unifying the people. It is not about shibboleths, signs, insignia, flags and various other forms of trumpery, but relates to the real measures from which ordinary people can benefit through co-operation. That is the kind of united Ireland in which I am interested. I am not interested in stamps, flags, anthems and similar tripe. It is wonderful to have our friends from the North of Ireland come to encourage us to develop cross-Border roads. I remember the days when they were being blown up and blocked and the aim of the campaign was simply to have them opened in the most rudimentary way. This meeting demonstrates how far we have travelled in the past 15 or 20 years and I welcome it.
We must endorse the implementation and delivery of an all-Ireland free-travel scheme for senior citizens and the disabled who are marginalised and being left out of the equation. I have been contacted by elderly constituents who worked and lived in the South and moved to the North only to find that for some reason they were not given travel concessions down here where they had paid their taxes. It is an anomaly which must be addressed.
I also endorse joint planning in seeking European Union support. We will get more out of it if we go together for a variety of reasons. Joint planning would be more logical and consistent and attract more political support. We should continue to improve the Dublin-Belfast rail line. I was one of those on the original peace train when the Shinners had the slightly bizarre policy of uniting Ireland by blowing up the main rail link between Dublin and Belfast, the logic of which I could never follow. We moved our trains up and down and ran the gauntlet, which helped to keep the line open, which was good. There were plenty of SDLP representatives on the train, including Austin Curry and the late Paddy Devlin.
Mr. Dallet indicated exactly the kind of matter on which we could co-operate when he referred to the Sligo-Derry link. It would make a nonsense of an all-Ireland plan to leave out this piece of the jigsaw. While it might well be obvious to self-appointed experts, this is the kind of information we need to know. The reference to "self-appointed experts" is a quotation from private session.
We closed that in private session.
We might not all be aware of the information unless our noses are firmly rubbed in it. I thank the delegation for doing that for us.
The delegation is most welcome. I am glad to see people who play the same record as I do. I represent the constituency of Galway East and am the Fine Gael spokesman on regional development, a job I have been at for a lifetime. I was delighted to hear the speeches which were made today. While there are a thousand questions I would like to put to the delegates, I will try not to hold the meeting up.
Irrespective of party — and today it is the SDLP whom we are delighted to have with us — is the same internal pressure experienced in the North as we experience in the west vis-à-vis the capital city? We have a very significant spatial strategy problem, which I do not point out to be political. It is simply the case that Dublin is getting out of control. I know many parts of Northern Ireland very well and it has often struck me that the type of activity one sees around Belfast, and to a lesser extent Derry, is as far removed from Fermanagh as activity around Dublin is from Ballina, County Mayo, or Ballinasloe, County Galway. We have all sorts of grandiose plans for a spatial strategy which, while we hope it works, is necessarily a very slow burner. Is there a mood in Northern Ireland that investment should be made in infrastructural projects which are needed away from the magnets of Belfast and Derry in areas which lack punching power? The debate is as old as can be. While we have argued about it for years, we all know that the child who cries loudest is fed first.
If ever there was a need to adopt an all-island approach, it is in the area of co-operation with the west. Derry is very important to Donegal as we saw only last week with the hospitals issue. I assume the port of Derry could be developed with great profit for many parts of the north west where there are very few deep-water harbours. A promise was made in Transport 21 to establish a new western rail corridor, which delegates will know is intended to stretch from Limerick and Ennis through Galway. Currently, the route is planned to come only as far as Claremorris which means we will be without further lines to Sligo and Enniskillen. If these places are ever to be linked up, this is an area to which we will all have to return. The line should eventually connect Derry with Enniskillen, Sligo and, via Galway, Cork and the south, but we are a long way from that.
I would like to hear the views of delegates on the matter. Will whichever authority eventually delivers a system continue to invest funding in areas of huge population or will we be able to put a brake on that North and South?
I welcome warmly the SDLP delegation whose presentation I enjoyed. It was a powerful argument for the delegates as MPs at a future date or their colleagues who are currently MPs to come and address a committee of the whole House. Given the total painlessness of today's meeting, a plenary session would be a wonderful exercise in which we could cover every relevant matter. While a Dublin colleague, Deputy Crowe, usually covers the joint committee for my party, it is appropriate that he is not available this afternoon given the geography of the areas of which the delegates spoke, including Narrowater and Dundalk which are right on my doorstep. I am powerfully familiar with them.
Ms Ritchie spoke of the Dublin-Belfast road about which I have significant concerns. Roads which are planned from Banbridge are beginning to edge their way south after what seems a century. While construction is under way from Dundalk to the Border, as delegates will have seen on their journey, the Newry bypass continues to be a disaster. Another young woman was killed on it late last week, which brings the total to five in fewer than five weeks. I am extremely worried that the Roads Service in the North appears to feel no urgent need to expedite the development of the section to join the Banbridge road.
Does Ms Ritchie agree that the Narrowater bridge would, if constructed, have the potential to link Newcastle and Newgrange as an entire tourist package incorporating the Mourne Mountains, the Cooley Mountains and a significant part of south Armagh? Not many people have identified that potential yet. A bridge would also facilitate the redevelopment of Warrenpoint Harbour which is currently cut off, into County Louth at my own village of Omeath. We do not have an industrial base there, but would gain access to a minor one at least. Do the delegates agree that such a development would be, to put it mildly, useful?
Senator Norris was quite wrong when he said the Shinners were hindering the rail at Killnasaggart, though he did not mention the name directly. I record that Sinn Féin was never involved in any operation of that nature. That is for poor old Senator Norris.
We will not have statements.
I am replying to a comment. I am delighted with Senator Norris's current view that Britain's Border in Ireland is an obstacle to development, which is a very significant statement from him. I am sorry he is not here. I would have enjoyed his reaction to these comments, but I did not want to interrupt him earlier. I am delighted that he too is moving on.
While the Dundalk-Sligo route will have a significant impact in Fermanagh, south Tyrone and Leitrim, I am worried that Louth County Council has only now begun to discuss which way it should leave the county. One group of councillors wants it to go via Castleblayney, while another wants it to go via Carrickmacross. I am concerned that parochialism will hinder a very substantial infrastructural development, something we must collectively keep an eye on to ensure it goes ahead with no messing.
Finally I will deal with the issue of balanced regional development. The computer systems of the bus companies, North and South, are not compatible. One can buy a ticket to Warsaw from the Bus Éireann website but one cannot buy a bus ticket to Belfast or Derry. Is that not ludicrous? Computer compatibility is the name of the game for primary school children.
It is where we are coming from.
Exactly.
I thank the SDLP for its contribution to this discussion. I join my colleagues in expressing the hope that it is the first of many contributions from a variety of political parties — perhaps a delegation from the DUP may wish to attend in the not too distant future.
As Chairman of the Joint Committee on Transport, let me make it quite clear that I have no difficulty in allowing a group to make a submission to it.
I am not casting aspersions as I appreciate the Chairman's progressive attitude. However, I hope the members of the Northern Ireland Assembly can share with their colleagues their experiences of attending the committee meeting.
Ms Ritchie
I will deal with some of the questions and my colleagues, Mr. Thomas Gallagher and Mr. John Dallat, will deal with other aspects.
I thank Deputy Olivia Mitchell, in her absence, for her good wishes and for the reference to the Dublin-Derry road, which is of utmost importance. Deputy Glennon referred to the lack of an integrated transportation structure. We agree there is a lack of an integrated transportation structure in the North, but we have to come up to the plate in terms of transport infrastructure in the North. We are dealing with the legacy of conflict, violence and a divided society. Money was invested in security measures, leaving a legacy of neglect of our infrastructure by the British Exchequer. It must now be brought up to a certain level in order to be compatible with the infrastructure in the South. We are in no doubt about that.
Some steps in the process of integration have already taken place and Mr. Dallat has referred already to the fact that the rail line going through the grounds of Derry city airport is partly funded by the Irish Government. There is an urgent need to provide a rail link to Belfast City Airport which is adjacent to and in close proximity to the local train station. There would also need to be a rail link between the central train and the bus stations in Belfast. That does not exist. There is a requirement for local infrastructure that is identified in our Regional Development Strategy and its sister document, The Regional Transportation Strategy. Much funding is required and we would like to see a commitment from the British Exchequer to ensure that happens. That is vitally important because integration of our transport networks means that people can travel much more easily, more conveniently and also with greater ease which encourages the use public transport rather than relying on cars. If the violence had not occurred, we might have reached that stage many years ago. We must move on. We welcome investment in infrastructure to bring us up to a comparable standard but we should not allow that dearth of investment to prevent North-South working now.
Senator Norris referred to our old theme of unity in diversity. We agree with him. We hope the technical details of a scheme for all-Ireland free travel, which has already been agreed by the British-Irish Intergovernmental Council, can be realised as soon as possible. I understand there may be problems with the Department of Regional Development in the North, and it does not sit easily with it — but the cost would be greater on this side and we understand there are problems in the Department of Social and Family Affairs. We would welcome the committee highlighting the need for the Irish Government to put pressure on the British Government to ensure it happens because it would bring enormous benefit to senior citizens or disabled people who travel from Belfast to Dublin, enabling them to continue their journey to other parts of the island. There is a need for joint planning for transportation measures, whether between Dublin and Belfast, Dublin and Derry or east and west.
Deputy Connaughton referred to spatial strategy and we would like to see the report commissioned by InterTrade Ireland and written by John Driscoll of Harvard University coming to the fore as quickly as possible. The very basis of an all-Ireland transportation structure depends on and is contingent on spatial planning. The co-ordination of both strategies will tell us what has happened in terms of infrastructure and transport networks and what is required. We must ensure there is no copperfastening of the inequalities of the past that allowed an area west of the Bann to remain in a state of deprivation and likewise west of the Shannon. The new spatial planning strategy for the island must show that inequalities and marginalisation are a thing of the past. He also referred to the great need for rural transport initiatives in sparsely developed areas. Such a need exists in County Louth and we in south County Down would be happy to avail of it. He also raised the issue of the port of Derry, but I ask my colleague Mr. Thomas Gallagher to address that.
Deputy Morgan referred to transport issues that impinge on my constituency of South Down. I will deal first with Narrowater Bridge. I can remember in my previous employment the current MP for South Down writing many letters about the Narrowater Bridge. We were the only party in the late 1980s and early 1990s that was raising the issue of the need for a bridge at Narrowater between Warrenpoint and Cooley in County Louth because we believed it would eradicate the impediment caused by people feeling marginalised as a result of partition. More importantly, the opportunities for tourism provided by St. Patrick's country, the mountains of Mourne and Cooley could be fully realised and it would open up that whole area to people from other parts of the island, Great Britain and North America. This area remained untapped for generations, was recognised only recently by the Northern Ireland Tourism Board and is now jointly managed and marketed by Tourism Ireland. It should not necessarily go from Newcastle to Newbridge but from the whole of St. Patrick's country and the mountains of Mourne to the length and breadth of Ireland. The eastern seaboard needs to be marketed on an all-Ireland basis.
We believe there must be a North-South approach to road safety. Far too many are being killed on our roads. Several people have been killed on the Newry bypass in recent months. Death on the roads causes heartbreak and grief in the family and community. One death is one too many. There is a need for the Road Service to evaluate what improvement can be made on the Newry bypass to improve road safety. Greater resources must be put into road safety by the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland, which has responsibility for that area. The Road Safety Council in Northern Ireland must work in conjunction with the National Safety Council in the South. The Belfast-Dublin road should be of motorway standard. To date, the Roads Service has been totally resistant to that. There is no particular comparison between what is available in the South and what is available in the North. The Roads Service has taken far too long in the construction of the stretch of road from Banbridge-Lough Brickland to Newry. That work needs to be expedited. We have no difficulty with the work at the Narrowater Bridge because it needs to be undertaken quickly. The purpose of our presentation is to ask the committee to ensure that the Irish Government put pressure on the British Government to ensure that this work is carried out. We believe working jointly, on a North-South basis, on these issues makes sense.
We are all aware that accident rates in Border areas are very high. Like other speakers, I wish to emphasise that a better, all-Ireland road safety strategy is worthy of consideration.
I empathise with the valid points made by Deputy Connaughton. Whether it is the distance from Brussels to Dublin or Belfast, I agree that the further one goes, the harder one must shout for funding, which often runs out before reaching the far flung regions. The Deputy asked about Northern Ireland's commitment to addressing this issue in the context of roads. It is not good, for the same reasons he outlined, in that the further west one is situated, the more difficult it is to attract the money. In addition, despite whatever commitment exists on paper, it is being undermined by cutbacks under direct rule, another reason for wanting a quick return of the Assembly. More work is being done on the ground on the southern side of the Border, namely, the construction of bypasses to ease traffic problems at Ballyshannon and Bundoran in Donegal. Nothing like that is happening or is planned for Fermanagh. The situation is worrying. In a year or so there will be a good road system in Donegal, while Fermanagh will not even have in place good spokes that could allow it to avail of that network.
There is also another practical aspect to the need for an all-Ireland roads plan. There exists a commitment to extend the motorway that ends at Dungannon to the dual carriageway at the Ballygawley roundabout. That work, which is to be welcomed, is due to commence in 2008. However, Ballygawley is located approximately halfway between Sligo and Belfast and is nearly as far from Enniskillen, leaving a gap on the Ballygawley-Enniskillen-Sligo road. If, as a result of these proceedings, we could get authorities on both sides of the Border to agree to fill in those gaps we will have done a good day's work.
Deputy Connaughton also mentioned the development of the western rail system. I assure him that this project is attracting a great deal of interest on the northern side of the Border because people see the benefit of it. Unfortunately, some of the lines have been lifted and sold off since the railways were closed 40 or more years ago. That has left us way behind in terms of development. There is no doubt that the project is attracting a great deal of interest.
Mr. Dallat
We are delighted with the response we have received here today. I am glad the point was made that anything discussed today is non-threatening. The Chairman recently visited us in the North to outline his experience regarding the development of the waterways in the South, an issue which we in the North wish to address so that tourists can travel from the Shannon to the River Bann. That was an important visit, during which the Chairman met people from all traditions, none of whom felt threatened.
I am pleased with the response we have received on railways. It does not matter whether rail lines were bombed, whether previous Unionist regimes wanted to close them or whether direct rulers neglected them by diverting money to compensation claims, security, etc. It is important, as pointed out by Deputy Connaughton, that we develop an all-Ireland strategy because if we omit one link from the network, it will not work.
This is not just about having a good transport system, it is about targeting social need and equality, an issue that impacts on the people of the north west who were poorly treated in the past. In the future, we will have to behave as did the Germans during partition. We must be supportive of each other and ensure that we leave behind a legacy better than that previously left behind. I thank the committee for its time.
I have a brief question on the Strategic Investment Board and the Department of Transport in the South. Is there enough co-operation between those two bodies in dealing with these issues? I support what Mr. Dallat had to say about targeting social need and dealing with balanced regional development. There has been a significant move here in that regard in terms of the most recent Government announcements, which are welcome, but I do not believe that has been matched in the North. By way of correction, it was a Fine Gael councillor, Mr. Tommy Elmore from Omeath, and I who first mooted work at the bridge back in 1975.
Ms Ritchie
I could correct Deputy Morgan but there is not much point in competitive challenges which do not progress matters very far. I also knew Mr. Elmore when I served as a member of the East Border Region Committee, which supported that project. Reference was made to the Strategic Investment Board which I understand is doing significant work with the Taoiseach's office and the equivalent body in the South, the National Development Finance Agency. I attended a conference in Derry two and a half months ago, which was organised by the Strategic Investment Board, on the issue of balanced regional development on the island. At that conference, representatives from the National Development Finance Agency gave us advice on how to go about financially organising projects. There is joint working taking place but greater impetus needs to be given to that to show it can be done on an all-Ireland basis. The Strategic Investment Board is in its infancy and requires institutions of Government, North and South and also in Britain, to pump prime it. That is of crucial importance. Unless we have the political institutions, we could end up moribund and that is the last thing we want. We want to move forward so that coming generations on the island of Ireland will realise there is a future for them here and that they will not be obliged to emigrate.
I thank Councillor Ritchie and the Members of the Assembly, Mr. Dallat and Mr. Gallagher, as well as Ms O'Neill, for coming before the joint committee and explaining where they see the need for North-South co-operation on the infrastructure issue. We would be pleased to provide assistance at any stage and to any group because we will be judged on the legacy we leave. We will not be judged in our own lifetimes, another lesson that can be learned about politics. Do any other issues need to be raised before we conclude our deliberations?
I received a letter from Declan O'Shea of the Federation of Aerospace Enterprises in Ireland with regard to the Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) Bill 2005.
We dealt with that earlier. We decided to write to the Department to see if it might send a Blackberry device so it can send messages about what it wishes to do.
The Bill has undergone Second Stage in the Seanad and this group is worried about aspects of it. Will it be brought before the committee?
It will have to come to the committee on Committee Stage.
It will go to a select committee. It may not be appropriate for the joint committee to consider it.
The Select Committee on Transport will consider it.
The joint committee adjourned at 3.30 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 November 2005.