Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 15 Oct 2008

Vol. 191 No. 8

State Airports.

Senator Jerry Buttimer

I thank the Leas-Cathaoirleach for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment.

The Minister of State will be aware that Cork Airport Authority has a vacancy for the position of the cathaoirleach or chairperson of that authority. This vacancy arises from the resignation of Mr. Joe Gantly. Associated with it is a milieu of issues surrounding Cork Airport, namely, its debt, the fact that it has not had a chairperson since the middle of the summer, that a business plan for it has not been published and that the separation of the three State airports, Dublin, Shannon and Cork, has not taken place.

Cork Airport is central to the growth of not only of Cork but the Munster region. The economic vibrancy and vitality of the region is very much dependent on it. Tourism in Cork needs not only a strong airport but one that is marketed well, driven by its board and that has leadership. The attraction of business to the region requires that Cork Airport is sustainable into the future and that it has a competitive executive that manages it. However, what have we got? The airport has no chairperson, no business plan has been published, there has not been a separation of Cork Airport from the Dublin Airport Authority and Cork Airport has been laden with a debt.

When the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, was in Cork in September he said he could not appoint a new chairperson to the authority because he had not received the business plan for it from Dublin Airport Authority. Surely the Minister who presides over aviation policy for the country can demand or request from Dublin Airport Authority a business plan for Cork Airport. A number of questions arise. Are we serious about securing the future of Cork Airport, protecting the jobs of the staff there, attracting the opening up of new routes out of it, making it viable and sustaining the growth of the passenger numbers about which we hear so much? Is there anybody in government prepared to show leadership on this matter?

I contend the Government has neglected the board of Cork Airport Authority. It has refused to appoint a chairperson to the authority. It has forced the board to accept a debt that it did not want to accept. Dublin Airport Authority is setting out the plans for the aviation sector, with a business plan for Cork Airport, and it is setting the tone of what happens with the result that Cork and Shannon airports are suffering.

A proactive approach by the Minister, Deputy Dempsey, is needed, not excuses. The Dublin Airport Authority comes under his remit. I hope I am not pre-empting the Minister of State's reply but it is important that the business plan for Cork Airport is released. The Minister said that a chairperson for the airport cannot be appointed until he has sight of the business plan for it. How long must we wait for a chairperson to be appointed? It is ridiculous that no chairperson of Cork Airport Authority has been appointed at a time of economic crisis and recession in this country when the board needs a leader to bring it forward and give it direction and impetus.

This is not a time for inaction but for being proactive. It is time to show support and solidarity with the people of Cork, the board of Cork Airport and the workers who have made a major contribution to the development of that airport. I was in Cork Airport last Sunday and one could drive a bus through the terminal it was so quiet. Is that what we want?

Senator Cecilia Keaveney

We could cycle.

Senator Jerry Buttimer

After the budget we will be cycling everywhere.

The Minister of State's Government has already told us that Cork Airport will have no debt, but it has been laden with a debt. We need action and answers from the Minister of State tonight. It may not come under his direct area of responsibility, but I hope he will have positive news for the workers of Cork Airport and the people of Cork tonight.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Noel Ahern)

As Senator Buttimer will be aware, Joe Gantly recently stepped down from his position as the chairman of Cork Airport. He held the position since 2004 and I would like to record in this House my appreciation for the work he did in that post and to wish him well in the future.

Under the stewardship of Joe Gantly, Cork Airport greatly expanded its passenger base. Last year was the 15th consecutive year for aviation growth at Cork Airport and between 2003 and 2007 passenger numbers increased from 2.2 million to 3.2 million. That makes a lie of some of the accusations the Senator made. It is obvious that Cork Airport has been a vibrant airport and has done great work to boost tourism in the area.

Such growth and expansion requires a dynamic and experienced chairman. I can assure the House that the person to be appointed will bring these qualities to the job, and the position is to be filled very shortly. Under the State Airports Act 2004 the boards of Cork and Shannon airports are required to prepare business plans for eventual separation.

All three airport business plans have to be co-ordinated by the Dublin Airport Authority for eventual approval by the Minister for Transport and the Minister for Finance. Among the requirements to be satisfied in advance of separation is the need to ensure the financial sustainability of the three State airports. It has always been the Government's position that the resolution of the debt issue at Cork Airport would have to ensure that the debt burden to be undertaken by Cork would be manageable and that it would form a reasonable basis for Cork Airport's autonomy, without in any way putting at risk its commercial future.

However, it is also the Government's position that the sharing of the Cork debt — much of which was incurred in financing the new terminal and other infrastructural works at Cork Airport — between the Cork and Dublin airport authorities will have to take account not only of what is commercially and financially feasible for Cork Airport, but also what is commercially and financially feasible for the Dublin Airport Authority. Most of that debt was spent in putting the infrastructure into Cork.

In order to break the logjam between the DAA and the Cork Airport Authority on the equity of the debt, Mr Peter Cassells was appointed earlier this year to mediate between the two parties with a view to reaching agreement on a level of debt that was acceptable to both sides. Mr. Cassells's conclusions and recommendations were the outcome of that dialogue with both parties. The recommendation is that the CAA takes responsibility for debt of €113 million in return for the transfer of net assets of €220 million on separation. The board of the CAA has accepted this recommendation.

I have already received the Cork and Shannon business plans and I expect shortly to receive a finalised commentary on those plans by the DAA when it submits its business plan. I would expect the DAA's commentary to address recent trends in the aviation market, the challenges facing the State airports and the financial and operational aspects of restructuring.

As to the question of publication of business plans, I do not foresee publication because the content is commercially sensitive. In any case, I will need to consider the DAA's commentary and the implications of the individual business plans for the future operation of our State airports before deciding on the best way forward.

Senator Jerry Buttimer

The Minister of State's reply is disappointing. In saying that it is hoped a person will be appointed shortly, is he talking of weeks or months? In his reply, he is factually incorrect. A clear commitment was given by his predecessors to the effect that there would be no debt on Cork Airport, and that the Government would honour that, yet it has not.

Deputy Noel Ahern

I do not know, but I believe "shortly" means weeks rather than months. However, the key point, regardless of what was said a couple of years ago, is that the board of Cork Airport is taking on a debt of €113 million and getting assets of €220 million. Most of the debt was accrued or built up from building infrastructure at Cork.

Senator Jerry Buttimer

The promise was that it would be debt-free.

Deputy Noel Ahern

While we are very generous in Dublin——

Senator Jerry Buttimer

You are not.

Deputy Noel Ahern

We are not Santa Claus, either. It would be unusual for the DAA to build infrastructure in Cork while accepting all the debt.

Senator Jerry Buttimer

The promise was made.

Deputy Noel Ahern

The Dublin Airport Authority is accepting half of it. Cork is doing well.

Senator Jerry Buttimer

However, as the Minister of State is aware, the promise was made.

Cycling Facilities.

Senator Shane Ross

This Adjournment motion is about the need for the Government to improve facilities for cyclists in Dublin city. I am aware that the Minister is issuing what he calls a sustainable travel and transport plan and will be bringing it to Cabinet in the coming weeks. It is a very ambitious plan to put 150,000 commuters on the roads, and substitute them for cars by 2020. However, it is a plan that will be very difficult to implement, particularly if the past record of care for cyclists by successive Governments and Dublin City Council is maintained. I will quote David Maher of the Dublin Cycling Campaign, which welcomed the initiative, from an article in the Sunday Times, of last Sunday, 12 October, which states:

I would say that 10% of all trips by 2020 is completely achievable, but we have found in the past that there is no follow through from policy to reality on the ground. You can make all the cycle tracks you want, but if the gardaí are going to allow people to park all over them, they are more of a hazard than a help.

The promotion of cycling has been more aspirational than a matter of delivering factual and concrete facilities for cyclists, and I shall give the Minister of State a few examples. I believe there are only 200 km of cycle lanes in Dublin city, which is grossly inadequate if we are to achieve the type of objectives the Minister has already outlined. Where they exist, they are dangerous — because there are potholes which are not looked after and they are cut off in many cases throughout Dublin and lead nowhere. They are dangerous because cars are left parking on them for hours and cyclists cannot pass them. They are also dangerous because taxis often use them and because gardaí often do not enforce the law in respect of cycle lanes. Cyclists believe that whereas the bicycle is everybody's favourite vehicle to champion, it is ignored in reality.

As the Minister of State will be aware, there are several types of cycle lane. They carry with them different rights and nobody, beyond cyclists themselves, is aware of those rights, and certainly not the drivers of other vehicles. The different rights attaching to cycle lanes are not carried in the rules of the road, which need updating so that people become familiar with the rights of cyclists in various lanes. The data on cyclists and the accidents they have had, as a direct result in some cases I suggest because of neglect of the maintenance of cycling lanes, have not been updated since 2006. We need new ones, but there are fatalities between cars and bicycles, at the rate of at least three a year. There were 86 injuries involving bicycles in 2006, an unacceptable number.

I should like to indicate some examples for the Minister of State of places that badly need cycling lanes and do not have them. There is a large amount of space around the Guinness hop store, for example, where there is no cycle lane, and which is very dangerous for cyclists. There are enormous potholes on the Lower Leeson Street cycle lanes and the only alternative is for cyclists to cycle in the bus lanes, with the buses coming in the opposite direction. This makes life extremely hazardous for cyclists as well. There is a great deal of room along Parliament Street on the approach to the City Offices, yet there are no, or very few, cycle lanes on offer.

It would be appropriate if the Minister of State could give me some assurances that this matter is now a priority, not just for the safety of cyclists, but for the environment. I know he will probably say there was a grant in the budget yesterday, which gave €1,000 under a new cycling to work scheme. That is an encouragement to people to cycle but they are not going to do so if the lanes are dangerous.

Deputy Noel Ahern

I am taking this matter for the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, and will set out his ambition for cycling as a sustainable travel mode throughout the country.

As Senator Ross knows, it is regrettable that reliance on cycling has diminished considerably over a number of years. He mentioned that a unit in the Department is working on a sustainable transport and travel action plan which is due to be published before the end of the year. Census returns demonstrate a significant decline in cycling. On a national basis, in 1986 more than 7% of commuting trips were made by bicycle. This figure declined to 5.7% in the early 1990s, to 4.2% in 1996, to 2.3% in 2001 and to 2% in 2006. The reasons for this decline in commuter trips by bicycle are manifold. Perhaps it is partly due to the fact people live further from their places of work.

Reliance on the bicycle in Dublin has also declined but perhaps not to the same degree as nationally. There is some evidence of a resurgence in cycling in the capital but its modal share remains very low despite the fact there are 300 km of cycle facilities in the greater Dublin area. I believe Senator Ross said 200 km. In recent years, even with the additional cycle facilities, the share of commuter trips has gone down. Obviously, more than cycle facilities are needed.

The Dublin Transportation Office has been beavering away and it spent more than €300,000 on the provision of public cycle parking stands. It also approved further projects in Dublin city in late 2007, including cycle parking in more than 21 schools, a further 150 cycle parking stands in key city centre locations and cycle lanes in Gardiner Street and Parnell Street.

The Department commissioned research into a potential national cycling policy. The outputs of this research hold out the prospect of a culture of cycling in Ireland by 2020, with 10% of all trips by bicycle. It is one thing to have that as a policy but it is another to make it happen. Increasing the modal share enjoyed by the bicycle to 10% would be a huge shift and would move as many people on to bikes as the public transport element of Transport 21 could accommodate. To do that, we plan to spend at least €16 billion. The potential of success with the bicycle is enormous if it can be achieved.

Much action is required, including training school children in safe cycling. A start has been made in that through widening our support for the green schools travel module which, next year, will reach more than 100,000 children; providing safe cycle routes to schools, colleges and workplaces; re-prioritising existing roadspace in favour of cyclists and walkers and designing new roadspace with cyclists' needs in mind; and ensuring that those involved in traffic planning and management are supported in becoming fully skilled in prioritising both cyclist and pedestrians as the preferred modes of travel in Dublin.

As I said, it is the intention to publish the Department's action plan, which is its vision for cycling, by the end of the year. As Senator Ross said, it is significant that support, through the taxation system, for the provision of bicycles and safety equipment for employees was mentioned in yesterday's budget as well as a charge for carpark places. It was good to hear Senator Ross raise the matter. Yesterday when those items were mentioned in the Dáil, there was general laughter.

Senator Shane Ross

I am not a member of the Opposition.

Deputy Noel Ahern

I realise that. It was good to hear Senator Ross's support for the measures. While many people talk about the need for cycling, when something was done yesterday, it was the cause of a bit of merriment. It was good to lighten the mood and to hear a few giggles because much of the Minister's speech was probably not very interesting news. While we all say nice things about cycling, it is unfortunate that when something is being done, it is regarded as a bit of a joke. That was the general response yesterday.

Facilities, money, ideas and vision are needed as well as a change in the culture. I hope many of those measures will be set in train when the plan is published. There was a time when cycling was a widely used mode of transport. Perhaps I am showing my age but 40 or 50 years ago, there would be five or six lanes of bicycles. We will not return to those days but we need to get back to greater use of bicycles because we cannot cater for all the cars. From the point of view of vehicle emissions and what was done yesterday, the new plan has the potential to change the culture in a significant way.

Senator Shane Ross

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I believe his heart is in the right place. He said that achieving a shift to the bicycle of this magnitude will require actions. That is pretty flabby. Are there commitments to carry out these actions or are they aspirations? Will they be carried out? Is the money there for them or are they simply what the Department of Transport has listed as requirements if it is to get from here to where we want to get to by 2020?

Deputy Noel Ahern

Some of them are already happening such as the green schools travel module. It is reaching many school children and is one way to change the culture and to get young people to use bicycles. That has been hugely successful. I hope the plan will go to Cabinet and will be more than a list of aspirations. I cannot speak too authoritatively about that at this stage. It is visionary in many ways but I hope it will indicate how things are to happen rather than a wish list of what we would like to happen.