Vol. 113 No. 2
The purpose of this Bill which provides for the establishment of a new statutory body — the Dublin Transport Authority — is to radically improve the planning and operation of the road and rail transport and the management of road traffic in the Dublin area.
The need for substantial improvements on all of those fronts is apparent and urgent, especially to the many thousands of people who have to travel miles to work every day and all other people needing to do business in the city.
On a point of order may we have a copy of the Minister's speech?
I understand copies are on the way, I apologise for the delay.
More importantly, our capital city needs to be relieved of the now severe road traffic congestion so that its vital commercial social and cultural functions can be restored and animated.
The Bill gives to the new Authority the mission and the necessary statutory powers to get to grips with the severe road traffic congestion especially in the centre city areas. The Authority will therefore be developing and implementing a comprehensive traffic management strategy aimed at keeping Dublin's traffic flows moving, swiftly but safely, while seeing to the provision of adequate short term car parking facilities for persons doing business in the city. Of greater importance, however, are the provisions of the Bill giving to the Authority other major new functions — functions which no other body has at present — namely, to assess and rank public needs and expenditures as far as public transport by road and rail is concerned, and to secure better physical planning so that public transport needs can be better met in the future and at least cost. The establishment of the Dublin Transport Authority is, of course, only one of the vital elements in the far-reaching programme of transport reforms which I have launched as Minister. This programme requires a very substantial volume of new legislation as evidenced by the fact that——
—three transport Bills have already been enacted this year: the Canals, Free Ports and Air Transport Bills;
—three further transport Bills are now before this House, The Dublin Transport Authority, CIE Reorganisation and the Harbours Bills;
—three further transport Bills are now before the Dáil and will also come before this House soon, the Road Transport, B & I and Air Navigation and Transport (Preinspection) Bills.
Further substantial legislation will arise from decisions in the White Paper on Transport Policy which I am now preparing for publication later this year.
The need for a new legislative framework to meet current needs in transport matters give the Members of this House and the Dáil a wonderful opportunity to review national transport policy and to contribute to its development. I am glad of that opportunity and look forward to participating in the process. I know that this House is particularly appreciative of the fact that of the nine Bills mentioned, I initiated four in this House and it is my intention to initiate further Bills in this House as the opportunity presents itself.
The Dublin Transport Authority will: (1) be connected to the new local authority system for Dublin city and county; (2) take over from the Garda Commissioner the role of road traffic authority in its functional area; (3) assume responsibility for all traffic management schemes, that is traffic lights, road signs, etc; (4) take over responsibility for the taxi service from the Department of the Environment and the local authorities; (5) have responsibility for the routing, pricing and licensing of all bus services; (6) be the adviser to the Government on transport infrastructure investment in the Dublin area on road, rail and bus; (7) have the right to make recommendations to the local authorities and to the Minister for the Environment about local authorities' development plans and road plans, and the right of consultation by the local authorities and An Bord Pleanála on all planning applications and appeals with significant implications for traffic management or provision of transport services; (8) have the power to direct local authorities to bollard roads, to convert long roads into a number of cul-de-sacs to prevent joyriding; (9) have power to direct local authorities to ramp roads to prevent speeding; (10) have control over the provision of public car parks in the Dublin area; (11) have control over the timing and co-ordination of road works and vehicles serving construction sites in the Dublin area.
As far as transport planning for the Dublin area is concerned there is a clear need to ensure that public and private transport requirements are treated in in integrated and co-ordinated manner. In particular, the development plans and road proposals of the local authorities must take public transport needs fully into account. Secondly, co-ordinated planning should in turn result in co-ordinated assessment being made of the requirements for annual Exchequer funding of public and private transport. This is vital if the limited Exchequer funds available are to yield the maximum benefits to the community.
Thirdly, as far as public transport services are concerned, monitoring of CIE's performance and regulation of such matters as taxi services and the provision of bus services by private operators should all be entrusted to a body whose functions relate to every major aspect of private and public transport in the Dublin area.
Finally, the regulation and management of traffic in the Dublin area needs to be put on a new statutory footing.
The establishment of a Dublin Transport Authority was the principal recommendation of the report on Passenger Transport Services in the Dublin Area, presented by the Transport Consultative Commission. The Dublin Transportation Task Force, the non-statutory forerunner of the DTA, has achieved quite a lot. I wish to record my appreciation of its efforts. Comprised of senior representatives of the Government Departments directly concerned, the Garda Commissioner and the Dublin city and county manager, and with the assistance of CIE, the task force has achieved a number of important improvements in traffic management in the Dublin area.
These improvements have been secured as a result of the development by the task force of a strategy aimed at reducing traffic congestion at peak hours by getting commuters to switch from cars to buses. The strategy has involved a combination of improvements to the bus services and a parking policy which discourages all-day parking in the city centre. Among the measures implemented have been the following — over 600 new or re-engined buses are now in service in CIE's Dublin fleet, which numbers about 840 buses in all; — buslanes have been successfully implemented at 65 locations, covering virtually all of the main arterial routes into the city centre; — the traffic warden service has grown from a small number working on a part time basis to 109 full time and 16 part time wardens; — 1,700 on-street car parking spaces formerly available for all-day parking have been converted to short-stay use by the provision of parking meters.
Notwithstanding these improvements traffic congestion persists as a very pressing problem. The continuing lack of a single statutory body with responsibility, and the necessary powers, for traffic management in the Dublin area and the consequential complexity of arrangements has meant that traffic problems could not be tackled with sufficient speed, vigour or thoroughness. A non-statutory grouping such as the task force, which is dependent on the combined efforts of its members agencies each of which has its own priorities and concerns, is not equal to the task except on an interim basis.
It would be appropriate at this juncture for me to indicate in detail how the Dublin Transport Authority proposed in this Bill compares with what was proposed by the Transport Consultative Commission. As regards functions, as recommended by the commission the DTA will have functions in the areas of transport planning, funding and public transport services, in addition to traffic management. However, the Authority's planning functions exclude a substantial element recommended by the commission — namely, that the Authority itself would draw up a comprehensive Dublin transport plan. Such a plan, when approved by the Government, would be binding on all concerned. This recommendation was not accepted because of the risk of duplicating the on-going planning work of the local authorities and CIE.
Instead, the Bill requires the Authority to assess the plans of those bodies and make recommendations to the Ministers for Communications and the Environment, as appropriate. Any recommendations to Ministers by the Authority in relation to local authority functions will also be submitted to the Dublin Metropolitan Council when that is established in due course. In these ways the integration of transport planning recommended by the commission will be achieved.
In practice, the Dublin Transport Authority would have to operate having regard to the settled general planning strategy adopted for its functional area by the local authorities in question. It will input into that strategy. The Authority's planning functions will be reviewed in the light of how the Authority is operating. Additional functions in that particular matter, or in other matters within its remit, may be given by Ministerial Order under section 9 of the Bill, subject to Oireachtas control.
As regards the structure of the Authority, the commission recommended an executive board below the authority itself. The Authority would have 15 members including elected representatives of the Dublin local authorities and other relevant interests. This would be too unwieldly an organisation and could not therefore be accepted. Instead, the Bill provides for a more concise and unified Authority, with a maximum of 12 members, to be appointed by the Minister for Communications on the basis of appropriate experience and expertise in transport and other relevant matters. Four members of the Authority will be members of the four proposed main Dublin local authorities who are nominated by them for membership of the Authority.
Under section 10 of the Bill, the DTA's functional area will generally cover all of these areas of the three existing Dublin local authorities, Dublin Corporation, Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire Borough Corporation. It may be desirable, however, that for the purposes of specific functions, for example, in relation to public transport services, the Authority's area should be somewhat greater than that. Section 10 provides the necessary flexibility in that the Authority's functional area may be varied in respect of all or any of its functions by Ministerial Order, subject to Oireachtas control.
Since the Bill is accompanied by an explanatory memorandum, it is not necessary for me to go through it in any detailed way. I have already referred briefly to the planning functions of the Authority, which are set out in Part III of the Bill. I indicated how the DTA will integrate the roads and land use planning of the Dublin local authorities and the public transport planning of CIE. It will also have an advisory role in relation to planning applications and appeals which have major implications for traffic management or the provision of transport services.
Over the past few years, major road works in the Dublin area have included the Clontarf Embankment Road, development of the Airport Road, the construction of Templeogue Bridge and bypasses at Swords, Palmerstown, Cabinteely and Santry. In recent years, three new bridges have been erected over the River Liffey — the Frank Sherwin Bridge at Heuston, the Matt Talbot Bridge at the Custom House, and the East Link Bridge which has facilitated some through traffic in avoiding the city centre and a substantial time saving is being achieved by users. In the major road plans already approved by the Government, the road situation in Dublin will be completely transformed by the end of this decade.
The Dublin rail rapid transit study of 1975 saw the electrification of the Howth-Bray line as the first phase in a city-wide electrified rail system. The next phase recommended was the provision of electrified services between Tallaght and Heuston Station. Discussions have taken place between CIE and the Department of Communications in recent years about the question of providing electrified services between Tallaght-Clondalkin and Heuston Station with, initially, a feeder bus service to the city centre. The cost of that proposal could be in excess of £100 million. The possibility of various cheaper alternatives such as a busway to Tallaght, or diesel rather than electrified rail services, has been discussed with CIE but no definite proposals have yet emerged.
The question of what public transport services are to be provided for Tallaght-Clondalkin and other developing areas west of the city, and whether such services should be provided by rail, road or busway, will require priority consideration by the DTA. Consultation will be necessary with the local authorities and CIE. Given the constraints on resources, the high cost of rail projects will require that cheaper bus-based alternatives are brought to the forefront in the DTA's consideration of these questions.
As far as funding of transport is concerned, the Authority will make recommendations as to the priorities in annual Exchequer allocations, both capital and current, for roads and public transport to the Ministers for the Environment and Communications, respectively.
The importance of striking the best balance between the transport modes is readily apparent. In 1984, Exchequer grants to the Dublin local authorities for road maintenance and improvement works totalled £25 million, while CIE's Dublin services were subvented by the Exchequer in the amount of £34 million.
Section 21 should provide the Authority with an effective budgetary role to complement their planning role, without the additional procedures which would be necessary if the relevant funds were to flow through the DTA to the local authorities and CIE. Again, however, the budgetary functions of the Authority merit re-consideration when experience of the working of the Authority is gained. The ministerial order mechanism under section 9 of the Bill provides the necessary flexibility. In the area of traffic management, where a more direct regulatory role is proposed for the Authority, the DTA will disburse Exchequer funds under section 43 of the Bill to the local authorities to have specific schemes implemented.
In the area of public transport services, which is dealt with in Part IV of the Bill, the Authority will set objectives in relation to the extent and standard of bus and suburban rail services to be provided in the Authority's functional area by CIE, within their Exchequer subvention. The Authority will also monitor CIE's progress on meeting such objectives. This will impose a healthy discipline on CIE, and will enable value for money to be assessed as far as Exchequer subvention is concerned.
The Bill also provides that CIE will not vary their fares for Dublin bus and suburban rail services, without the approval of the Authority given with the consent of the Minister for Communications. The DTA will also take over responsibility, from the Minister for Communications for the licensing of private bus operators to provide public transport services in Dublin if thought necessary and for the control of taxi services in the area.
The restructuring of CIE will involve the separate administration by subsidiaries of Dublin city services, provincial bus services and the railway. Links will therefore have to be established between the DTA and the new CIE subsidiaries with responsibility for Dublin city services and for the railway, which is likely to retain responsibility for DART, or directly with CIE. While the preparation of the new CIE legislation is in hand, the restructuring of CIE will take some time to effect. The Government are anxious to get the DTA working as soon as possible. The interface between the DTA and the new CIE subsidiaries with responsibility for Dublin bus and suburban railway services will broadly follow the lines of the interface between the Authority and the present CIE provided for in this Bill.
The new organisational structure for CIE will enable any management defects in the industrial relations area to be remedied. The DTA will be intensifying the pro-public transport traffic management strategy begun by the task force, so that the operating environment for buses and trains will be further improved. It is not too much to ask that the unions and management resolve the various defects on their sides, particularly that of unofficial or unballoted industrial action on the union side. I think the Government and the general public are entitled to demand good industrial relations in order to aid the major efforts that are being made to help CIE.
The DTA are being given the function, now the prerogative of the Minister for Communications, of licensing private bus operators to provide public transport services, subject to the Minister for Communications having an appelate function in the matter. The licensing question will therefore be one for the Authority in the first instance. While there may well be scope for the provision by licensed private operators of limited or specialised bus services in the Dublin area, it is not possible at this stage to indicate the likely extent of such provision. As I have said, the establishment of the DTA and the re-organisation of CIE will provide the environment in which CIE management and staff should be able to deliver an efficient and reliable service. It would be inconsistent at the same time to permit private operators to provide scheduled services on any extensive basis, even if they were in a position to do so. CIE must avail of the opportunity being provided for them, however, and no doubt the DTA will keep the licensing question under continuous review.
The DTA will be the regulatory body for taxi services in the Dublin area. Matters such as the licensing of vehicles and drivers and the approval of maximum fares will be controlled by the Authority. Taxi services are part of the public transport system and should be consciously developed as such. They should be an element in the overall traffic and transport strategy for Dublin. Taxis should provide a flexible service to complement the bus services, for example, in the city centre areas to meet the needs of business people and shoppers particularly. Such a service, particularly if attractively priced, would make it easier for people to leave their cars at home.
I have mentioned that the Authority will approve maximum taxi fares and also any change in CIE fares. This Bill also provides that the Authority will control charges for public car parking, both on-street and off-street, in the Dublin area. The involvement of the National Prices Commission in settling these various transport-relation charges and fares will cease. This is not a removal of price control, of course, but a transfer of that function to the Authority from the NPC. This is in view of the overall nature of the Authority's role in transport matters and in the interest of minimising the number of agencies required to be involved in those matters.
Part V of the Bill sets out the traffic management functions of the Dublin Transport Authority. The Authority will both devise traffic and parking measures and make by-laws to give effect to them. These functions have heretofore rested with the Garda Commissioner acting either on his own initiative or at the request of the local authority. The Minister for the Environment's consent will be required for the Authority by-laws. This will ensure the necessary degree of compatibility with the national "rules-of-the-road" regulations made by that Minister, and with other local traffic and parking by-laws throughout the country which will continue to be made by the Garda Commissioner.
The Authority will also regulate public car parks and roadworks under powers being provided in legislation for the first time. The other important new power which is being provided in section 32 will enable the Authority, by means of bollards, to restrict, wholly or partly, the use of public roads by vehicles and, by means of road ramps, to restrict vehicle speeds on public roads. This power will have particular relevance for controlling traffic in built-up areas and housing estates.
This new power will be an extremely important one. Unfortunately, due to the alarming growth of what has become known as joyriding, many residential roads have become dangerous racetracks where life, limb and property are constantly endangered. Moreover, with the growth of vehicular traffic, many motorists use residential roads as "rat runs" or short-cuts from one arterial road to another. It will now be possible for the Dublin Transport Authority to decide, where appropriate and suitable, to make existing residential roads in whole or in part, into cul-de-sacs, by means of bollards.
I have no doubt that this power will be warmly welcomed by many communities throughout the city as a means of making their roadways safe once again. We are also providing power for the Authority to arrange, where suitable, for ramps on Dublin roads in order to inhibit joyriding or excessive speeds.
The traffic warden service will be transferred to the Authority under section 15, but otherwise the Garda will continue to be responsible for traffic law enforcement. The traffic and parking schemes will be implemented by the local authorities on behalf of the Authority with funds provided for by the latter.
The objective of traffic management is to make the optimum use of the existing roads network for the movement of people and goods. Traffic management is vitally important. Traffic management works can yield significant returns, in terms of alleviating congestion, from relatively low levels of expenditure. In 1986 £3 million approximately will be made available by the Exchequer for such works in the Dublin area.
I will be looking to the Dublin Transport Authority to re-vamp and intensify the traffic management efforts of the task force, and to examine afresh existing traffic arrangements. In particular, I wish to see the Authority develop a comprehensive parking strategy in favour of the short-stay parker, as against the all-day parker. Such a strategy would embrace off-street and on-street spaces, charges, parking periods and types of parking controls and, in particular, effective measures against illegal parking.
No traffic management strategy can succeed without proper enforcement. The transfer of the traffic warden service to the DTA should result in a more effective and professional service. The provisions of the Bill dealing with the transfer include guarantees against any worsening of the wardens' pre-transfer pay, conditions of service and superannuation entitlements. I would like to see the development of a supervisory structure for the Dublin traffic warden service which would improve efficiency and also provide incentives for advancement for the traffic wardens. The Garda too, I feel, could step up their traffic law enforcement efforts considerably, notwithstanding the many higher priority demands that are made on them.
In addition to the specific functions I have outlined, the DTA will have the general functions under section 8 of the Bill of ensuring, in so far as they can, the proper planning and efficient operation of road and rail transport in their functional area and of promoting and engaging in public education and research related to road and rail transport. There should be no overlap or duplication between the education and research functions of the Authority and functions of An Foras Forbartha and the National Road Safety Associations, and vice versa.
The maximum penalties for offences under the Bill when enacted are set out in section 53. The actual penalty imposed in any case will, of course, be a matter for the court. Maximum penalties of £1,000 and/or one year's imprisonment on summary conviction, or £50,000 and/or five years' imprisonment on conviction on indictment, are provided for in respect of three types of offence. These are unauthorised disclosure of information by a member or employee of the Authority, failure of an Authority member or employee to disclose a beneficial interest in matters being dealt with by the Authority, and unauthorised roadworks. The maximum penalties provided for in these cases are high, but rightly so I believe, in view of the potentially very serious nature of the offences.
Section 53 also provides that the same penalties as apply under the Road Traffic Acts for the country as a whole will apply to other offences under the Bill, namely breaches of the Authority's by-laws under sections 31 and 36. Under section 44 of the Bill, the levels of the fines-on-the-spot imposed for parking offences will continue to be set in regulations made by the Minister for the Environment. He is currently reviewing the levels of these fines.
As far as the Authority's running costs are concerned, the Bill provides for financing of the Authority by the Exchequer, and that staff numbers and salary levels will be subject to ministerial control, in the interests of economy and efficiency. I can, if necessary, avail of the flexibility provided by the commencement provisions of the Bill to assign functions to the Authority on a phased basis. I can assure the House that the Authority will be a lean and fit body. With this approach, the running costs of the DTA will not be permitted to exceed £400,000 in their first full year of operation. This figure is net of the costs of the traffic warden service, the transfer of which will merely result in a re-allocation of Exchequer funds between the Vote of the Garda Commissioner and that of my Department.
The terms and conditions of the staff of the Authority will be analogous to the terms and conditions of staff in the local authority service. I am hopeful that the Authority will be able to select staff among existing competent and experienced public service personnel. This should enable some offsetting staff savings in other local bodies, but, at this stage, it is not possible to quantify the likely level of such savings. After their first year of operation, the staffing of the Authority will be reviewed in the light of experience, and in the light of any additional functions which might be given to them and of their capacity to bring about worthwhile savings to the Exchequer or to the community.
It is very clear now that traffic and transport problems in Dublin are currently imposing massive hidden costs on industry, public transport and private motorists and will continue to do so until the problems are properly tackled. I am convinced that the establishment of the Dublin Transport Authority, with the comprehensive range of functions and powers contained in this Bill, is the way in which to tackle those problems. I am confident that the benefits which will accrue to the Exchequer and to the community from the establishment of the Authority will greatly exceed their costs. I therefore commend the Bill to the House.
Let me say at the very outset that I am rather shocked and horrified that even at this stage in this Bill we have not had the common courtesy of the Minister's speech. I am not one who has recourse to the other House to get memos or to get inspiration from what is said there but any Bill arriving in this House should have with it, by way of the normal courtesy that has always been applied in this House, a copy of the Minister's speech, at least for the Opposition spokesman. I still have not had that courtesy. We are talking about the Department of Communications who have failed even to bring across a photostat of the Minister's speech to this House. I am rather disappointed and disgusted at it. I protest in the strongest possible form.
I apologise to the House again. I assure the House that the responsible people in my Department will be severely reprimanded for not having the speech available to the House. I have already sent officials twice to see if copies are available. I apologise again.
On the matter we are talking about it might be worthwhile to raise another aspect. When I was in the Department of Posts and Telegraphs as it was known then, we allowed the Front Bench spokesman in the Dáil a prior knowledge of what we were going to talk about so that they could investigate the issue and prepare for the debate. There was nothing wrong with that. I always ensured that Deputy Deasy, the present Minister for Agriculture, who was then the spokesman opposite me in the Department of Posts and Telegraphs was extended the courtesy of having a look at the speech. It was an agreed courtesy where he could have at least the opportunity of understanding what we were trying to do. Regardless of whether there might be criticism of or praise for the issue in question, my opposite number had advance notice of my speech. I have no copy to refer to. I know it may not be his function to provide a copy but it is his responsibility at the end of the day. I am rather disturbed about it because this House has been under much threat and much abuse, particularly from outside it, and especially over the past weekend.
The Minister can see the condition of the House we are in. We had here yesterday evening, a motion providing for moving us out to the annex in order to have this Chamber brought back into condition. Senators in general are being hit at a very difficult time. I make those remarks and I will say no more about it. I will try and manage without a copy of the Minister's speech.
The reason for this Bill before the House, dates back to March 1980, when the MacCormac report or the report of the Transport Consultative Commission was presented to the then Minister for Transport, Deputy Albert Reynolds. I recollect quite clearly the rapidity of his response at that time. The Government acted on what was then and what still is on many occasions, a chaotic situation in this city. I remember distinctly the Government, three weeks after that report being presented to them, moving on it. They moved in two ways. They accepted in full the recommendations within that MacCormac report and, secondly, they acted on it by setting up the task force to try to resolve as quickly as possible the short term projections to give a reasonable flow of traffic in this city, if my memory serves me correctly, under the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Transport, Mr. Fitzpatrick. I remember that there was a great response at the time to this report. This report said many things. The general summary of that report is something that we should skim through before we talk about this Bill.
May I comment further before I do that? It is a long time since the autumn of 1980. We are now in the supposed summer of 1986 and I am rather disappointed that it took so long for the Minister to act. Six years was a long time to leave the recommendations of that report standing there with nothing operating but the task force. I do take exception to the remark in the Minister's speech today that the task force is now obsolete. The task force was meant to be obsolete a long time ago. It was only a response to try to give immediate relief to a very pertinent problem around this city at that time. It was never intended to be in operation up to 1986. At the longest it was envisaged to be in operation until 1984 because there was only a certain amount of work the task force could do. They did that. I would like to compliment them, particularly the chairman, Mr. Fitzpatrick, for the wonderful work they did around this city in giving immediate relief.
In the general summary of the MacCormac or the Transport Consultative Commission report to the Minister for Transport in 1980, the objectives are clearly outlined. There are references to the problems, to the transportation authority, to the short term strategy, to a new deal for the Dublin city bus service, to taxis and private bus operators, to enforcement of regulations, to environmental aspects and to rapid rail transit and the roads.
On page 9, paragraph 1.4, of the report, outlines the three main factors creating the problems as follows:
We were satisfied that the lack of action was in large measure, a consequence of the varying statutory functions and responsibilities of the three bodies most directly concerned, CIE with responsibility for public transport, the local authorities, with responsibility for road construction and implementation of traffic management schemes and the Gardaí with statutory responsibility for road traffic matters and for enforcement of road traffic regulations.
They went on to say:
The three bodies report to three different Ministers, the Ministers for Transport, the Environment and Justice and there is no integrated or co-ordinated assessment, planning or implementation of measures, short term or long term, which would improve transportation in Dublin.
The pinpointed the main problem but it also pinpointed the main frustrations. The report outlined what was needed for this Authority. What they regarded as a fitting Authority, a Dublin city transport Authority, is certainly not what we see in this Bill today. Pressures were put on the Minister by the Department of the Environment because they were losing control of the road schemes and CIE, who were to be an agent of the transport Authority, are not an agent now. In fact, the transport Authority are an agent of CIE. The pressures brought to bear on the Minister and the Government have won.
This is a Bill without teeth. The headings of the Bill are the same but the contents are reversed. The Bill is way off course from what I expected it to be. It does not have the provision for a proper Authority in this city. The Department of the Environment will still be responsible for all road networks, planning and so on.
Taxi services are mentioned in the Bill. It is proposed that the co-ordinating of all these services will be done by the authority. I understood from the MacCormac report that the Authority would distribute out responsibility for these services in the form of agencies.
The functions of the Dublin Transport Authority are outlined in page 44 of the report where it is stated:
We concluded that what is required is an agency with overall responsibility for ensuring the integrated planning and operation of transportation in the three administrative areas in the Dublin region, an agency which would be the channel for submissions to Government of all plans and budget proposals in relation to Dublin transportation, an agency which would be responsible for supervising the release of all Government funds for transportation in the Dublin area and for monitoring the expenditure of such funds.
There is no mention of that in the Bill. The reason is that the Department of the Environment fighting out of their own corner, stuck to their guns and were not giving any of their functions to the Authority.
The report continues:
...an agency with responsibility for co-ordinating traffic management in Dublin.
We see what happened to that. CIE are no longer an agent of the Authority, rather the Authority are an agent of CIE. That is where the festering problem will remain. The report continues:
...an agency with public education, promotional and research responsibilities in relation to transportation in Dublin.
There is part of that aspect written into the Bill. The report continues:
...an agency with responsibilities in relation to the licensing of road passenger and taxi services in the Dublin area.
At that time a number of scavengers were working with licence plates at Dublin Airport. They called themselves taxi operators. They did untold damage to visitors at that time. The MacCormac report highlighted that problem. Therefore they were saying that the then licensing authority were not doing their job properly. What they were allowing happen was to the detriment of a very fine profession in this city. That matter has been put right. It was a problem that was highlighted at the time by the task force. It was brought to the attention of the Carriage Office who took steps to deal with it.
I recall an outcry at that time from the present Minister in regard to the matter. He was urging that something be done to deal with the problem. Only a very small number, perhaps 2 or 3 per cent of licence holders were involved in that abuse.
Today's taxi services may be expensive but at least we know the system is not being abused.
The MacCormac report recommended that the structure of the Dublin Transport Authority should be a policy making board, named the Authority, that there should be a managerial board termed the executive board and that there should be a full time staff of the Authority reporting to a chief executive. This is not what is happening. The then Government accepted the MacCormac report but the present Government have wandered along way from it. Paragraph 5.8.5, page 50 of the report states:
We would envisage the Authority, acting in effect as a Board of Directors, being concerned with board policy questions and laying down guidelines for the operation of the DTA. In accordance with such guidelines, the Executive Board, meeting perhaps weekly, would effectively manage the normal business of the body. We would envisage the Executive Board being comprised of, say, five members. As well as the Chief Executive who would chair the Board, membership might include the City County Manager, a senior official of CIE, an Assistant Garda Commissioner and a senior executive of the DTA.
Maybe I am misreading the Bill — and I do not want to misinterpret it — but I do not see anything in the Bill to provide for that function as envisaged by the MacCormac report. When the Minister and the Government yielded to the pressures of the Department of the Environment, Dublin County Council and other authorities in the city, all the good envisaged in that report was lost. We are now setting up another type of an assembly which can be blamed publicly and will degenerate into bureaucracy and will not have a strong and proper organisation.
I firmly believe — maybe I am misguided that the battles for power within the Departments were lost by the Minister. The Department most responsible for that was the Department of the Environment. They failed in the past and continue to fail. We have an authority now who have no teeth. We are going to have a situation in Dublin where instead of business resuming and a thriving business community being built up there will be chaos with nobody able to co-ordinate or do much about transport other than produce press releases as to what should or might be done.
I distinctly remember when it would take one hour to get from Lucan to the inner city. I am sure anyone coming into the city at that time blasphemed profusely at the delays in going from A to B, particularly on the western road. If business returned to the same level as it was then, we would have exactly the same problem or probably a worse one.
There are a few other questions I would like to ask. We are as the Minister rightly said, dealing with other Bills in the other House and here. We hope to deal with the Bill on the re-organisation of CIE next week. Envisaged in the MacCormac report was the Dublin city transport service. DART was mentioned many times in that report. It envisaged Dublin city services but they included DART as an integral part of the whole operational situation. There will, of course, be a Bill coming in soon — Committee Stage will be reached next week — which will be doing exactly the opposite to what the Dublin Transport Authority wants. The legislation we are dealing with next week regarding the re-organisation of CIE is doing absolutely the opposite to what was envisaged in this report of Professor MacCormac.
I would like to ask another question. There was much controversy at that time concerning the diesel and bus service to Tallaght and such places. Mention was made of it today has the Minister discussed the proposals he outlined today with CIE. Has he personally taken up this matter with CIE and has he any proposals or plans to ease the traffic congestion in that area? This is an important issue.
I believe it was envisaged that the board would be larger, if my memory serves me right, in the original Bill prepared by the Fianna Fáil administration. The number of members was increased from nine to 12.
I like the last phrase about how the Minister will appoint members to the board. He outlines three or four necessary ingredients concerning the functions and experience of board members and ends with the beautiful phrase that they will be experienced in those fields and "other relevant matters". We know what they are. We know the intepretation of the Minister for Communications for "other relevant matters".
The same as your own.
His history is well known. The only reason this Bill is before this House is to fulfil that statement by the Minister that those people will be appointed to the board with those qualifications and other relevant ones. Apart from that, I cannot envisage this new Authority as being of any use in the future. It has not got the "bite" where it should have it, for example, in planning and in the expenditure of major road work funds around the city or with CIE. It is only proper and right that CIE would run and organise the transport of this city. The trouble is that CIE will do as they wish and not as the Dublin Transport Authority would wish. Therein lies a major problem.
Shortly, when this Government are forgotten about, after the forthcoming general election, and when this city returns to the thriving community that it used to be prior to their arrival, we will go back to the same chaotic traffic situation, with congestion, blockages, uprooting of the streets all over if not by Dublin Gas, by Dublin County Council or Dublin Corporation. We shall have all the hazards that we know about and all the unco-ordination.
I am disappointed that the Minister did not adhere to Professor MacCormac's report and stick with it. Had he done that and only then, he would have proved to me and to the public in Dublin City that the report was a most valid proposition and contained strong recommendations to resolve the major traffic problems of this city. I will not go through the Bill now section by section as we may leave that to Committee Stage.
I am disappointed by the Minister, who I know understands the complications of the city, allowing us to be put into this situation by introducing a Bill today which I believe cannot resolve the problems. The Bill will have very little significance to anybody except those 12 members who are to be appointed to the board.
First, I would like to join in the Minister's apology about the speech. It is appropriate that Members of the House should have it in good time. I am sorry about the delay: I have only received a copy myself. I listened to the Minister and tried to absorb what he was saying as it is a major speech on an important piece of legislation. No matter what reservations one might have about individual sections, the concept of an overall transport Authority for the city of Dublin is to be welcomed. It was almost inevitable that an Authority such as this would come into being particularly having regard to the report from the task force that Senator Killilea has referred to. This Authority will replace the Dublin Transport Task Force which was a non-statutory body set up only to make recommendations. It is the duty of Government to look at recommendations, not necessarily to accept them in total, and finally, consider, the overall problems and see——
On a point of information, the then Government did accept them in total.
But the piece of legislation does not necessarily have to be the same as the report. This is a piece of legislation.
But the point is the Government then did accept them but this Government did not accept them and that is the difference. It is quite a significant difference.
It is important to set up the task force and it is important to have regard to what they have said. It is also important that the Government should govern and respond by way of legislation and this is what they have done. It may not be the be-all and end-all of everything that we want. The Bill was amended in the other House and it could be subject to amendment here and rightly so but it is important that we take account of the findings of the task force. The task force pinpointed some problems within the transport system in the city but there are so many different bodies involved in the regulation of transport in the city that it is appropriate that we would have an overall statutory Authority with representation on it from the various interested bodies — CIE, and certainly the local authorities. Like myself, Senator Killilea is a member of a local authority and I want to defend their right to have an input into matters that affect them and their budgeting. If anything reflects the budgeting of local authorities it is transport policy particularly as it can create tremendous demands on the financial resources of local authorities. For that reason I am pleased, to say the least, that there will be local authority representatives on it. I would even go so far as to say there should be more on it because 50 per cent of the decisions of this Authority will have an impact on the local authority and on the infrastructure that it provides and particularly when any movement one makes regarding the regulation of transport within an urban area has such an impact on everyone else in the city, whether they are business people or citizens. It is important that in considering the impact the reorganisation of transport in an urban area would have all those problems taken into account.
The Minister in publishing his Green Paper on transport policy, which is a major document and one I would like to commend the Minister on, has pinpointed many of the areas that for years have been neglected by many Governments in this country and that is the whole range of transport facilities whether it is land, sea or air. Addressing ourselves to this particular urban transportation problem is something that should commend itself to the House and to Members of it. In quoting from the Green Paper produced by the Minister on urban transport problems he says in section 4.
While every city is unique in its character, local geography and communications needs, urban traffic problems tend to have a common structure. As cities grow in size and affluence the population tends to spread outwards into increasingly dispersed suburbs. Traffic growth places a considerable burden on the capacity of the road network, especially where a city lacks the road network necessary to divert through-traffic (particularly commercial vehicles) away from the city centres. Traffic problems in cities tend to be most acute at peak commuting hours, but off-peak traffic problems tend to arise according as short-stay parking accommodation becomes eroded by the parking of commuter cars.
I think that section sums up in total what has happened to this city. A few moments ago we had visitors from the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Boston was the first city in the world to have an underground system and that underground system, old as it is, is today probably one of the most efficient in the world. It still operates efficiently and is widely used by 85 per cent of the commuters in Boston who can go about their business in a very quick, efficient and cheap manner. We should not leave it too late to address the problem of the possibility of an underground system in this city which would be in line with its prospects for future development. It is not too many years ago that the city of Brussels had to address the problem and have now come to grips with it and have installed a very modern underground city transport system. I am mentioning these for the Minister's interest, that we should not rule out that in the future if we are really to tackle the problem of urban traffic and congestion it would have to be considered that an underground system is a possibility. It would be expensive from a capital point of view but certainly it would be economic taking account of future running needs and future overall costings from management to maintenance. The extended usage would be very popular and would eventually justify the capital investment of putting in an underground system.
Commuting from the suburbs, it is said in section 4.2 of the Green Paper, tends to be increasingly based on cars partly from choice and partly because the public transport system fails, or is unable, to provide a sufficiently attractive alternative. Public transport problems can arise from both external and internal sources. increasing car use and poorer services resulting from increased traffic congestion adversely affect the numbers using public transport. There are times in the city when we see buses lined up behind one another because they are unable to move forward and it was only with the introduction of city bus lanes that any real movement took place in getting buses from one side of the city to the other. Unfortunately, as more people opt to use their cars congestion increases and this reduces the effectiveness of public transport even further. The failure of the public transport system to provide a flexible, reliable and attractive service can also adversely affect patronage levels.
In the Bill itself we have sections which deal with the possible membership of the Authority. I welcome the fact that it would incorporate members of local authorities because of their input as the providers of the road network. Anything that is done by way of reorganising transport or ensuring that there is an efficient transport system will have a direct bearing on local authorities. I notice also that the Minister envisages the maximum number of members as 12 to be appointed by him by virtue of their experience and he hopes that there will be not more than four members of the authorities in the area of the local authorities or new restructured local authorities in Dublin. Members would also, I hope, include some who are presently on the board of Coras Iompar Éireann and other interested people. Apart from the remarks of Senator Killilea there are people in all parties who have an interest in public transport and I would say particularly that the trade union movement should be represented on this Authority as they have a contribution to make. In a moment I will quote some of the submissions they have made in this regard.
Could I just draw the Minister's attention to section 16 of the Bill which mentions membership of the Authority in relation to the Houses of the Oireachtas, particularly members who have been nominated to contest Seanad elections. I did not think that we would have further legislation which would contain the same clauses as have been contained in past legislation relating to membership, or nominated membership of this House. I hope that the Minister when he looks at this will see that all other legislation which contains this provision has already been amended, the Dentists' Bill, the Nurses' Bill and a more recent Bill. Certainly three Bills under the jurisdiction of the Minister for Health have been changed because they contained a clause which precluded members who were nominated to Seanad Éireann or to contest Seanad Éireann. They were amended on the basis that candidates could be nominated without their knowledge or approval and one could thus ensure that they could not take their place on a particular board. I hope the Minister can change section 16 accordingly in line with the agreement we have in this House about changes to meet the particular, special procedure for nominating Seanad candidates as opposed to the other House.
The Authority will deal with all areas of traffic — road traffic, rail, buses, taxis, traffic wardens and all involved in traffic management. It would be inappropriate to allow this occasion to pass without a special word of praise for DART which has received widespread favourable comment from users. It is certainly something that should be considered for extension where appropriate because there is no doubt in my mind that since its inception, despite all the people who were inclined to knock it in the beginning, it has proven itself by popular use. I hope sincerely that the possibility of extending it will be considered actively by the Minister and his Department. This Bill which will establish the Authority is at present before us and we hope that with whatever agreement we can reach on it and the amendments that the Minister might consider, it will soon be up and running effectively so that we can co-ordinate the whole transport system within this city. That will include, planning and funding. In that regard I would join Senator Killilea in suggesting that a figure of £400,000 would certainly not be enough if we felt the Authority was to have some direction in its planning because planning involves funding and I feel that it is an area that we should leave open to suggestions in the future if this Authority is to do some of the things that we would like it to do.
The traffic management will also be under its jurisdiction and in this regard consultations will have to take place with the Garda authorities and other people who are responsible for law enforcement. The trade union movement have reservations about it but I must say that first of all they welcome the Bill if only because it is better than no body with overall responsibility for traffic management. So, let us at least compliment the Minister on making an effort to have some authority that would be responsible for overall transport management.
In a submission to the Minister from the Irish Transport Union which is my own union, on page 6 referring to urban transport, it states that bus lanes and more effective implementation of parking controls in Dublin have helped to improve traffic flow. However, it says, the proposed Dublin Transport Authority which is still to be set up is a disappointment largely because it lacks teeth where it matters most and that is financially. That is also the comment of Senator Killilea. It will only have a consultative role on transport funding instead of controlling the budget of Dublin city services, the traffic departments of the four local authorities, etc. As I say, they said it is welcome only because it provides something that is not there and which is needed. It is hoped that the Dublin Transport Authority will have trade union representation on it. I have mentioned that on the basis of having local authority representation, possibly CIE representation, it is appropriate that there should be trade union representation also.
