asked the Minister for the Environment (a) whether he has access to figures which would show the growth in the number of vehicles registered for persons resident in the South County Dublin area between 1970 and 1980; (b) whether he knows of any other area in the country in which the growth in this period has been so rapid; (c) whether he is aware of the serious problems of road safety, road amenities and of energy waste and the social cost implied by this development; and (d) the proposals he has for improving the situation without delay.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Dublin Vehicle Registration.
18.
Vehicle registration figures compiled by licensing authorities relate to the total number of vehicles registered with them as being ordinarily kept in their area. Separate figures are not available of the number of vehicles registered in the names of persons resident in any particular part of a licensing authority's area.
For the Deputy's information, I can, however, advise him that the total number of vehicles registered with Dublin Corporation, which is the licensing authority for Dublin city and county, increased by 56 per cent in the ten year period from 1970 to 1980. This increase is comparable to that experienced in Cork city and county over the same period. However, the growth in percentage terms was considerably greater in Galway city and county 88 per cent, Kerry 77 per cent and Donegal 70 per cent.
I am aware of the implications of the growth which has taken place in the vehicle population over the last decade. The Government are committed to the road development plan which is designed to remove deficiencies in the road network, improve the mobility, efficiency and safety of road transport and generally bring the country's road network including that in the Dublin region to a standard capable of meeting present and future needs. As evidence of this commitment, the Minister has this year allocated the unprecedented total of £87 million in road grants. Of this, Dublin County Council have been allocated £9.822 million, a substantial portion of which is in respect of major improvement works in the southern part of the county.
The Government have announced their decision to establish the Dublin Transportation Authority and measures towards this end are being pursued by the Minister for Transport.
Would the Minister not agree that his reply reflects the total indifference of his Department to the special and unique conditions of congestion in the southern part of County Dublin, in as much as the increase he has spoken about is taking place in a county you would lose in County Cork or County Galway? Does he not recognise there is a problem of a very different order when you get an increase in an area which you can cross on a bicycle in half an hour as compared with an area like County Cork which is 100 miles from one extreme to the other?
The Deputy asked a specific question — whether the Minister knows of any other area in the country in which the growth in this period has been so rapid. I gave him that information and he is criticising me for doing that.
Is not the thrust of the question obvious to the Minister? Is it not clearly intended to extract from him an admission that the traffic problems in South County Dublin — aggravated by the growth in the car owning population over the past ten years — are unique in the country? Admit it. The Minister will be over here in a few months' time getting someone on our side to admit it.
That is the Deputy's greatest dream.
I want to make it clear that the Government have recognised this problem. That is why an unprecedented sum of £87 million has been made available for the entire country. This year's road grant to Dublin County Council amounted to £9.822 million, an increase of 56 per cent over the level of grants to the council in 1980, or 289 per cent over the level of grants allocated by the Coalition Government in 1977.
How much did the council want for 1981?
If the Government's concern about South County Dublin is so burning, I want to ask the Minister about three specific projects so well known that they are household words. First, what are the Government's proposals about reutilising the route of the old Harcourt Street line? Second, what are the Government's proposals for building a relief road along the Southern Cross route? Third, what are the Government's proposals for building a by-pass avoiding the village of Dundrum? These are the three main traffic problems — apart from the Shankill by-pass — in South County Dublin.
When the Deputy got a reply he did not like, he asked specific questions. We have made available to Dublin County Council an unprecedented sum. We are not holding up the schemes submitted to us for the want of finance. I cannot go into the questions the Deputy mentioned specifically because they are different from the question on the Order Paper.
Has the Minister an idea of the dimensions of the problem? Does he know the distance of dual carriageway that £9 million will build in 1981 or 1982, 1983 and 1984, which is the least time for a project like that. How much of a carriageway could you put in for that much money?
A moment ago the Deputy asked me to make an admission. I will make an admission now, and it is that it is not easy to make up for the years of neglect of the Coalition Government.
The remaining questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.