This is a Seanad Bill which has been amended by the Dáil. In accordance with Standing Order 103, it is deemed to have passed its First, Second and Third Stages in the Seanad and is placed on the Order Paper for Report Stage. On the question, "That the Bill be received for final consideration", the Minister may explain the purpose of the amendments made by the Dáil. This is looked upon as the report of the Dáil amendments to the Seanad. The only matters, therefore, that may be discussed are the amendments made by the Dáil. For the convenience of Senators I have arranged to have copies of those amendments made available this morning. Senators may speak only once on Report Stage.
Transport (Railway Infrastructure) Bill, 2001 [ Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil ] : Report and Final Stages.
Question proposed: "That the Bill be received for final consideration."
Minister for Public Enterprise (Mrs. O'Rourke): I am glad to be back here. We were here in May with this Bill on Second Stage. Indeed it got a very good hearing and debate in this Chamber. It then went to Second Stage in the Dáil but was delayed on account of the Mini-CTC inquiry. We have now had Committee, Report and Final Stages and are here now to report on what happened in the Dáil.
The Bill provides for the establishment of the railway procurement agency, RPA, that will be given responsibility for procuring light railways and metro. The agency will be an independent, commercial State body with powers to enter into public private partnerships and joint ventures in carrying out its functions. The Bill also provides for a single statutory railway order procedure. Under the provisions of Part 3, the RPA will make application to the Minister of the day for approvals in relation to light rail and metro while CIE will apply in respect of heavy rail infrastructure. Part 4 provides for the operation of light rail when running on-street.
Before referring to the amendments that have been made to the Bill since it was passed by this House in May, I would like to thank my colleagues in the Dáil and in particular the members of the Select Committee on Public Enterprise and Transport who worked very hard on this Bill over the past few days in order to facilitate its passage through that House. I am very appreciative of all their contributions.
A total of 30 amendments to the Bill were passed on Committee Stage and a further seven on Report Stage. The majority of these were technical or drafting points and I do not propose to go into detail on those. I will be happy to elaborate on them if Members require clarification on any specific points. I will deal with the major amendments which, I feel, have improved the overall effectiveness of the Bill.
An amendment to section 9 has the effect of reaffirming the independence of the railway procurement agency. It was always my intention, in setting up the agency, that it should be independent in the exercise of its functions, subject to the provisions of the Bill, and the amendment now reflects this intention in legislation. That amendment was proposed by Deputy Stanton of the Opposition.
In section 20, a number of amendments were passed which have the effect of increasing the number of members of the agency from 7 to 8 and provides that the agency should include a member elected by its employees. That amendment was proposed jointly by Deputies Stagg and Stanton.
Regarding section 39, on Committee Stage in this House, I agreed to an amendment to subsection 39(1) which resulted in the addition to the section of a requirement that the environmental impact statement, which must accompany an application for a railway order, must "comply with the European Union directives regarding environmental impact assessment". On Commit tee Stage we received advice from parliamentary counsel and I had to move an amendment to delete this addition. I would like to explain why. Section 39(4) contains an exemption from the environmental impact assessment regulations. The relevant provisions arising from environmental protection directives are now contained in the Bill in sections 39(1) to 39(3). I assure Members that the provisions contained in the Bill mirror the EU Directives and an application to the Minister for a railway order must comply with the detailed requirements set out in section 39.
I will now turn to another significant amendment concerned with safety. Since I took up office, the safety of railways has been a major concern of mine. As Senators may be aware, my Department will publish a railway safety Bill before the end of the year that will provide for the establishment of a railway safety commission which will be given responsibility for all safety aspects of railways whether they be light rail, heavy rail or metro. Pending the setting up of the commission, I was happy to accept an amendment that interim arrangements should be in place for the railway procurement agency to monitor and publish regular reports on the safety of light rail and metro infrastructure.
We had an interesting discussion on both Committee and Report Stages in the Dáil on the issue of the office of the chief executive. I considered carefully the amendments proposed in this regard and was conscious of the need to maintain a balance between the freedom of the chief executive to carry out his normal management and administrative functions and the necesssity to have safeguards to enhance the smooth running of the agency. Having carefully reflected on the matter, I considered it worthwhile to accept an amendment which requires the chief executive to provide the agency with such information in relation to the performance of his or her functions, as the agency may from time to time require. It would be my desire that there would be a free flow of information from the chief executive in relation to his management functions to the agency but we now have a safeguard in case any difficulties arise in this relationship.
A further useful addition to the Bill in this area is the incorporation of a provision in relation to the performance of the functions of the chief executive in his or her absence. Now the agency may designate a member of its staff to carry out those functions.
I will be happy to elaborate on any other amendments but Members will see that the majority are technical drafting amendments which have little impact on the Bill. I take this opportunity to thank the Senators and the Members in the Dáil for their contributions to improving this legislation which will greatly facilitate progress on the development of Luas, other light railway works and the metro. I extend good wishes to the interim chairman of the railway procurement agency, Mr. Padraic White, whom I appointed last July along with the five other members to the agency. On enactment of this Bill, I propose to formally appoint the same chairman and members to the agency. Then there will be a ballot among the members of the RPA who will elect one of their members to the board.
I welcome the Minister to the House. There is no division between Government and Opposition on this Bill and we have no challenge on any of the amendments. I welcome the proposed establishment of a railway safety commission and I look forward to that Bill coming before the House.
All of the money Iarnród Éireann has got is being used but there are some delays in getting the transport in place because the infrastructure has to be commissioned.
The Drogheda-Dundalk line, yes.
I thank the Minister for arranging a meeting with our commuter club. We had a very important debate and one of the main issues arising was that the Minister might consider a rail commuters group that would meet regularly with the Department to discuss safety and other issues.
It would be a good idea.
I too welcome the Minister and this Bill. The Minister has been innovative in many of the initiatives she has brought in during her tenure in the Department. The provision of public transportation, be it by road or rail, is a tremendous challenge facing the Government and it will face future Governments for a number of decades to come. The Railway Procurement Agency can play a significant role in this regard. It will operate independently and have powers to enter into public private partnerships and joint ventures. I appreciate that practicalities must be taken into account because in many cases there are economies of scale, but if some form of competition could be injected into the operations, it would be conducive to the provision of effective and cost efficient services in the years to come. I am not certain how that could be done, but it is something the agency might be asked to address.
We have seen the converse of not doing that in terms of what has happened over the decades in Iarnród Éireann and CIE. A monolith such as that does not have the capacity for long-term efficiencies which are essential for the provision of public services. The Minister might consider and discuss that matter with the agency.
Like Senator O'Dowd, I welcome the Minister's commitment to the introduction of the railway safety Bill. I am sure it will be another constructive Bill that will serve us well into the future. I compliment the Minister, wish her a happy Christmas and thank her for the effort she has put into her work in her Department.
I wish all the Senators and the Cathaoirleach a happy Christmas.
I wish the same to the Minister.
I thank the officials in my Department who worked very hard on this Bill and on all other railway related matters.
Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass."
Question put and agreed to.