Vol. 726 No. 3
58 Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Transport his commitment for funding the construction of a dual carriageway from Aughnacloy to Derry on the A5; the estimated cost of the project; the progress to date on the project; the amount of money already paid by his Department; the schedule of future payments; if the construction of a dual carriageway from Aughnacloy to Dublin is part of the commitment made by him; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2277/11]
Under the agreement of March 2007 between the Irish and British Governments on a funding package to support the restored Northern Ireland Executive, the Government made a commitment to provide funding of £400 million, or €580 million, in a roads investment package for Northern Ireland which will contribute to the upgrading of the A5 road from Aughnacloy to Derry to dual carriageway status. The Government's contribution will be made on the basis of actual expenditure incurred during the development and construction phases.
In this context, drawdown of funding depends on the achievement of agreed project milestones and clearance by the cross-Border roads steering group and the North-South Ministerial Council. A payment of €9 million was made in 2009 towards the cost of the project. The A5 project is being implemented by the roads service of Northern Ireland and the overall project budget is a matter for the Northern Ireland authorities. I understand the third project milestone — publication of draft orders — was achieved in November last year.
With regard to the Aughnacloy to Dublin route, as Minister for Transport I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in regard to the national roads programme element of Transport 21, but the implementation of individual national road projects is a matter for the National Roads Authority under the Roads Act 1993 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned.
A good road between Dublin and Derry would certainly be welcome and desirable. I presume the Minister meant to say €480 million, as distinct from €580 million. It is in the region of half a billion euro. Is that part of the text of the St. Andrews Agreement? If so, was the commitment to build a road from Derry to Dublin, or from Derry to Aughnacloy? In other words, are the two sections of the road to be done simultaneously? Are we to have two dual-carriageways? Is that part of the commitment or is it simply a commitment that the Irish Government intended to provide the €480 million to the Northern Ireland Government?
Do we have any control over the delivery of that money or over the planning development that takes place? If the Government in the North of Ireland was to change its mind and have a motorway, will we still deliver the money? If it changes it mind and has a two-in-one road, will that be the same? Is the commitment that as the money is requested the Irish Government provides it? Most of the road development that has taken place to date has been in the context of public private partnerships, which require very little money up front. At present, half a billion euro is being provided to Northern Ireland when the British Government is giving us a bailout of €7 billion. It sounds not just ironic but contradictory.
If one makes a commitment at a time when money is available, one cannot really decide to renege on it when a project starts. I do not think that would be helpful in any context, but particularly in the context of the peace process. This agreement was made in the context of the overall agreement leading to the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive in 2007. We agreed to provide the package of money comprising £400 million in a roads-investment package for Northern Ireland. In light of the Deputy's question, it is to be paid in the context of achievements of agreed project milestones and clearance by the cross-Border group and the North-South Ministerial Council. Those milestones are clearly laid out and each time, as they are met, there will be an entitlement to draw down on that money.
As regards the type of road involved, similar to here, that is a matter for the Northern Ireland Roads Service, which makes the decision, having gone through due process. It is envisaged, however, that it will be a dual-carriageway.
On the procurement of the road, contractors have been appointed to three sections of the route. Section one comprises the new buildings to the south of Strabane, section two is south of Strabane to south of Omagh, while section three is south of Omagh to the Border at Aughnacloy. It is expected that the scheduled completion date for the whole lot will be July 2015. The £400 million commitment is for the Aughnacloy-Derry section of that road. What the NRA will do on either end is a matter for that authority within its own budgets.
I presume that no value-for-money audit has been conducted for this project, as has been the case concerning much of the road building that has taken place. Do we not have a difficult situation here, however? Can we afford to put half a billion euro up front at this point? The Minister has already cut the PSO to Derry, which is the connection between Derry and Dublin. The bailout we obtained from the British Government is in the region of €7 billion to €8 billion. Meanwhile, in the current budget we are cutting all services right, left and centre, including education and social services. Is there scope therefore for revisiting the arrangements made? I have not been able to find a copy of any text concerning these arrangements. Will the Minister publish the text of the commitments and agreements made?
It sounds to me very much as if the Deputy is looking for a way to renege on this commitment, if he gets into Government after the next election. I hope that is not true because if he does so he will renege on the people of Donegal, apart altogether from the commitment to the peace process of which this is a part. This was agreed as part of the deal that restored the Northern Ireland Executive, but it sounds very much like the Deputy is looking for a way to renege on it.
The Minister should not put words in my mouth.
It is the only thing I can conclude. I am a reasonably intelligent person.
This side of the House would like to see the facts before embarking on projects like this.
Given the whole tone of the questions posed by the Deputy and the line he is following, it would appear to me that he believes this money can be reneged on, that we can renege on the people of Donegal, and that we do not need this road. We got involved in this project because the Government felt this was in our mutual interest. It was certainly helpful for the peace process but was also helpful for the people of Letterkenny and north-west Donegal to ensure that they have a direct link to Dublin.
The Minister did not answer the question. Will he publish the commitments and arrangements?
I am sorry but we need to move on. I am calling Question No. 59 in the name of Deputy Durkan.
59 Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Transport the full extent of any discussions he has had with the various transport and safety authorities associated with or responsible for the provision of the various forms of transport and ancillary services throughout the country such as all air, road, rail and marine services with a view to possible provision of a well integrated and co-ordinated transport plan and service including appropriate parking and safety facilities; the outcome of any such discussions along these lines with such companies as the National Roads Authority, Iarnród Éireann, Bus Átha Cliath, Bus Éireann, Aer Lingus, Aer Arann and the various airport authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2409/11]
My Department and I keep in regular and ongoing contact with the various transport agencies on matters relevant to general transport policy.
Transport 21 is the Government's multi-billion euro integrated investment programme, which provides for investment in our national roads and public transport network. The objectives of the programme include improved accessibility, sustainability, capacity, safety and integration.
A large part of the programme has already been delivered, including over recent months the extension of the Luas line to Cherrywood, the new Dunboyne rail service to Dublin, and the completion last month of the final section of the inter-urban motorway network.
The inter-urban network has greatly enhanced the journey times and connectivity between Dublin and the provincial cities, and has enhanced the safety of road users generally. In addition, the integrated vision for a sustainable transport future for Ireland by 2020 was set out in the Government's smarter travel policy document. Progress reports on the implementation of smarter travel can be accessed from my Department's website.
In December 2009, I established the National Transport Authority which provided the integrated institutional framework to underpin the development of all public transport road and rail services. The authority has been given responsibility for the development of an integrated transport system within the greater Dublin area. The principal functions include: strategic planning of transport; development of an integrated, accessible public transport network; promoting cycling and walking; provision of public transport infrastructure generally, including light rail, metro and heavy rail; and effective management of traffic and transport demand.
I understand from the authority that work is well under way in preparing a new transport strategy for the greater Dublin area for the period to 2030.
At national level, the NTA has responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger land transport services. That includes the provision of subvented bus and rail services by Bus Éireann, Dublin Bus and Irish Rail. The authority also has responsibility for the provision of integrated transport schemes in the regional cities and the contiguous areas surrounding these cities.
It is a fairly long question and it was quite a long answer. It was not a question put down by me. I want to ask a number of supplementary questions which the Minister might be good enough to answer. First, regarding integrated ticketing, which is relevant to the question, many people have been frustrated and bemused by how long it has taken to put in place the IT, software and hardware necessary to allow for integrated ticketing whereby people can move from bus to train to tram on the basis of the one ticket. I ask the Minister to outline for the record the time-line in terms of seeing integrated ticketing in Dublin and surrounding areas, which is the first phase, but also for people travelling to Dublin and to other parts of the country, to ensure that somebody who gets a bus to the train in Cork, gets the train to Dublin and then the Luas into the city centre can buy one ticket and get the flexibility and the value for money that brings.
Second, regarding the success of the dublinbikes project, one of the successes of the Minister has been to promote cycling, not just in Dublin but also in other parts of the country. Does the Minister's Department intend to replicate the success of the dublinbikes programme in other cities such as Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Galway and so on, and particularly in cities that are tourism destinations where there is a good deal of evidence to suggest that an extension of that programme would work well?
The Deputy has asked me a specific question on integrated ticketing. I will not give him a response off the top of my head in case it is incorrect other than to say that during the course of this year, starting in the first quarter of the year, the integrated ticketing project will continue to roll out. The Deputy is probably aware that a number of the transport companies have already introduced the smart cards. Over the coming months those cards will be integrated to ensure they can be used in the manner the Deputy outlined, namely, that one will be able to go from one service to another without having to purchase tickets.
In general terms, by the end of this year most of the public transport companies in the greater Dublin area will have integrated ticketing in place. Its roll-out has been slow, and I share the Deputy's frustration in that regard. Since the integrated ticketing board was put in place in 2005 it has worked very well but the question of the back-up, the IT systems and so on has been much slower than I would have anticipated. I have discussions regularly with the chairman on that but he makes the not unreasonable point that he wants the system to work when it starts. Nobody will thank him or me if we have a big bang on the day the system is launched and it does not work. Perhaps the board is being a little more cautious.
I thank the Deputy for the points he made on cycling. The cycling policy is a national one. Some areas of the country such as Mayo and Cork have responded very well in the first few years of the programme. We hope to roll out the programme to all the other provincial cities, in addition to a smarter travel service in those cities also. There are studies that must be completed in that regard.
60 Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Transport the road maintenance budget for 2011; his plans to ensure that the damage done to the national and non-national road network following the recent bad weather will be rectified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2294/11]
76 Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Transport if he will assist local authorities in repairing roads damaged by the recent cold spell; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2280/11]
89 Deputy Arthur Morgan asked the Minister for Transport the way the recent weather conditions and the costs of having to deal with it have affected the funding for road improvements; if the cost of treating roads during the recent severe weather conditions will affect the budget for road projects and upgrades; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2197/11]
91 Deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Transport if additional funding will be made available to the local authorities to assist in repairing the damage caused to regional and local roads as a consequence of the severe weather conditions in December 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2278/11]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 60, 76, 89 and 91 together.
As Minister for Transport, I have responsibility for overall policy and funding in relation to the national roads programme element of Transport 21. The construction, improvement and maintenance of individual national roads, including the cost of winter maintenance, are a matter for the National Roads Authority under the Roads Acts 1993 to 2007 in conjunction with the local authorities concerned. The amount of money provided in the 2011 Estimates for funding national roads is €852.6 million.
The improvement and maintenance of regional and local roads is the statutory responsibility of each local authority, in accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the Roads Act 1993. Works on those roads are funded from local authorities' own resources and are supplemented by State road grants, which are inclusive of a weather risk factor. The initial selection and prioritisation of projects to be funded is also a matter for the local authority.
My role in addressing damage caused to the road network is in disbursing the amount of money provided in the 2011 Estimates for funding regional and local roads, that is, €374.576 million, in the most equitable and targeted manner possible.
I will announce the 2011 regional and local road grant allocations shortly.
I thank the Minister for his reply. As he can appreciate, roads throughout the country have been left in a sorry state given the harsh winter we have experienced. I submitted this question in an effort to establish what the Minister intends to do, given the unprecedented damage that has been done to our roads. I travelled throughout County Clare over the weekend and there are potholes everywhere. The road from Ennis to Milltown Malbay is decimated. I want to know if the Minister intends to provide exceptional funding this year, in line with what he did last year, to allow county councils throughout the country fix the roads.
What I did last year was give the local authorities their allocations and more discretion in the way they would spend that funding. I asked them to focus on repair of roads badly damaged during the winter. When I have a finalised report from the local authorities on the recent spell of very bad weather it is my intention to do the same this year to allow maximum discretion in that regard.
I mentioned earlier and also in my answer that the primary responsibility for providing the funding for county and regional roads rests with the local authorities. They should try to ensure in their own budgets that they highlight the importance of local, regional and county roads by allocating extra funding to deal with the difficulties they say they face. Some county councils — not the Deputy's — provide as little as 5% of the cost of the roads and that does not display a huge commitment to the local and regional roads in some counties.
Was all of the funding last year to which the Minister referred used or was any of it given back to his Department? What was the Minister's reaction to the Road Safety Authority's statement that road conditions were contributory factors in quite a number of deaths on Irish roads between 2008 and 2009? What does the Minister have to say to motorists whose cars are being badly damaged, and in many cases accidents occurring, because of the very bad conditions of the secondary roads and by-roads, which are literally falling apart? Some of them have been described as war zones. Has he given any thought to issuing guidelines to the local authorities to get their act together and get those potholes fixed quickly to ensure the roads are safe for people to travel on? Motorists are paying a lot of money through motor tax and other taxes to travel on these roads.
If the Minister for Transport or any other Minister has to tell a local authority that it must keep its roads from being potholed it does not say much for the members of the local authorities concerned. In fairness, most of the local authorities take their responsibilities seriously in this particular area. There is always a dilemma at this time of the year regarding roads that are damaged, and particularly potholed. There is always a problem after a severe spell of frost. It does not even have to be as bad as the 27 days we experienced recently. I recognise that the Deputy referred to potholing but this is not a suitable time for full scale repairs. If local authorities throw some tar and chippings into the potholes, which wear away in a few days, they are accused of wasting money. A balance must be kept. I am not being facetious when I say that it is inevitable that not every road will be of a high standard, particularly at this time of year. From a road safety and a car maintenance point of view, motorists need to drive at a speed appropriate to the road conditions.
With regard to the other points the Deputy raised, to my knowledge and recollection all the money allocated to local authorities for road repairs was spent. There is no doubt that some road deaths are caused by road conditions, whether of the road surface or otherwise. I make the same plea to people to drive at an appropriate speed.
After the extreme weather we have had, perhaps there is need for the Ministers for Transport and the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to raise concerns with local authorities if there is strong evidence to suggest that they are not adequately financed or structured to deal with the current level of damage to roads. The situation is not a reflection on councillors. I understand what the Minister is saying but there is a responsibility for an emergency response at a national level, following the two extreme weather windows that happened within two weeks of each other.
After the first big freeze, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government announced that the Government was providing an emergency fund of €12 million for local authorities. Where and how was that money spent?
That provision included an allocation for damage other than road damage and is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. I will ask Deputy Gormley to communicate with the Deputy in that regard.
Huge sums of money are left by local authorities to the end of the year. Clare County Council held back 40% of its funding for road repairs to October, November and December last, which is not the most appropriate time to carry out road works. My village of Clarecastle is a shocking example of work done in unsuitable weather conditions. Can the Minister give a directive to county councils to carry out the most substantial work between April and August? We need to get better value for money.
Could the Minister and his Department liaise with local authorities to get some of these damaged roads repaired? Does the Minister realise the anger and frustration experienced by motorists when they damage their cars badly? No matter what speed one drives at, if one drives into one of these craters one will do serious damage to an expensive vehicle, and perhaps cause danger and injury to pedestrians and others. Will the Minister take some responsibility, and agree that there is a national problem throughout the country that needs to be addressed? He must stop passing the buck.
I am not passing the buck.
Not half.
Neither will I accept people who have local responsibility passing the buck to me. It is time people took responsibility. It is the responsibility of the local authorities to look after their local roads. By and large, they do that and do so reasonably well. I heard this rhetoric this time last year with regard to the roads. I heard fellows on the radio claiming it would take €1 billion to fix the damage to roads. It did not cost anything near that. Most local authorities managed to repair their roads, some of which were very badly damaged, within the timescale.
With regard to Deputy Carey's point about councils holding back money until the end of the year, that is a misreading of what actually happens. Local authorities do not submit their claims for the work they have done until the back end of the year.
The Department does not come back. That is the issue.
I checked this at the time. Stories were circulating that money would not be spent. I checked the matter. Local authorities generally concentrate on completing the work up to late October or early November and then rush to get their claims in.
Does the Minister agree that is the wrong time to do the work?
I would prefer local authorities to get road works finished by the end of October, which is appropriate, and then rush to get claims in, than to have them wasting time submitting claims and not getting the work done, or doing it too late in the year. We must be fair to local authorities. They do a reasonably good job in this regard.
I know there are difficulties. I will make the allocation of funding clear to the local authorities shortly. I will also repeat what I said last year. That is, I will give them discretion to use their money to focus initially on roads that need repair and to make sure they are repaired as quickly as possible.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.
