Amendment No. 15 in the name of Deputy Yates is out of order because it involves a potential charge on Revenue and the same applies to amendment No. 16 in the name of Deputy Kavanagh.
SECTION 3.
Chairman
Question proposed: "That section 3 stand part of the Bill."
It is indicative of how long it has taken for this Bill to come before us that my amendment was ruled out of order not only for financial reasons but for historical reasons.
Deputy Ray Burke first gave a commitment to set up a National Roads Authority in the 1987 general election. Now, five years later, we still do not have a National Roads Authority. I understand there were 22 drafts of this legislation. One must be sceptical about the date when this Bill will come into operation. I would have been happy to support Deputy Kavanagh's amendment which was ruled out of order; it would not be out of order if the Minister submitted it on Report Stage as his amendment.
I tabled over 200 amendments to the Child Care Bill and we spent a considerable time dealing with amendments on the commencement date of the Bill. Subsequent events have borne out the statements made by Deputies because, to date, a great deal of that Bill still has not been implemented. This is a matter for the Minister.
Once this Bill has gone through the Oireachtas, the Minister must insist on a commencement date. No further delays will be acceptable; 1 January 1993 would be reasonable. It is imperative that the Bill be expedited. Failure to insert a commencement date, as section 3 fails to do, renders the Bill inadequate and allows it to be the subject of a memo that might appear in December from the Department of Finance stating: "I am very sorry, Minister, there is no money available for your National Roads Authority in 1993" and the establishment of this Authority would be deferred again. Here we have an opportunity to insist on a commencement date. I ask the Minister to amend section 3 accordingly on Report Stage.
We are meeting today during what are regarded by the general public as our holidays because of the urgency to get this legislation on the Statute Book as soon as possible. I have a slight advantage over Deputy Yates as I only came into responsibility for this area in the recent past. We consider 1 January 1993 would give the Minister adequate time to bring the Bill into operation. We assume all Stages will be passed at the next session. My amendment was rejected because it involves a potential charge on the Revenue. That may be a technical way of saying my amendment will not be accepted but if it means that by delaying the Bill we are saving money, then I do not understand it. In fact, I would have thought if we had brought the Bill in earlier we would have made a saving. I believe the Minister wants the Bill as early as possible. I also believe my amendment is relevant. Perhaps the Minister has an answer that we will all accept.
It is my ambition to bring the parts of this Bill which will be finally passed into operation at the earliest possible date. Deputies Yates and Kavanagh will appreciate that there are a number of sections in the Bill where regulations must be made and these will require fairly detailed drafting. In anticipation of the Bill receiving a safe passage through both Houses that work is already under way. That will ensure speedy introduction of the provisions of the Bill. I have no wish to put on the Statute Book provisions which will not be enacted.
It was remiss of me not to mention my appreciation of the involvement of so many Deputies when, as Deputy Kavanagh says, the presumption is that we are all doing something else. That has its own message in terms of what the ultimate results will be.
The regulations are being drafted, there are a number of them. I will not delay the committee by mentioning those which have to be developed but bearing in mind the time that it will take to complete that work and put the Bill through both Houses — presumably towards the end of October or early November — it would put everybody under immense pressure to set a deadline at this stage. I hope Deputies will appreciate the commitment I give that those sections which do not require regulations will be put in place immediately the Bill is enacted; the sections which require regulations will be put into operation as soon as possible thereafter.
In relation to the operations of local authorities who will have estimates meetings before the end of the year, it is important that they know when the Minister intends to bring the legislation into operation. We have a section in our estimates dealing with roads and we expect, and hope, the Minister will make a contribution under that section for the maintenance, upkeep and building of roads in all counties. It would be useful if local authorities knew the position before debating the estimates.
Since the Department of the Environment would be funding 100 per cent the roads which are categorised and classified in this area, in what way would it impact on the local estimate?
They have responsibility, even though some responsibility for funding, maintenance and other activities may be handed to the Roads Authority. Consultation etc., will have to take place between the officials and the professionals——
But not on the estimates themselves.
There would be in that they hire a certain amount of expertise that has to be paid for out of local authority funding, such as county engineers and engineers at certain levels. I want to know what their operations will be and how the division of labour is to be made between responsibility at local level and responsibility of their own authority. It would be useful to know before that estimates debate commences that this Bill will cover a part if not all of the year, 1993.
Presumably when both Houses have approved the main terms of this Bill, the question of the permanent statutory authority will be decided. Clearly there is a period of continuity between what happens in local authorities and what is arising from the establishment of this new authority. It is not as if there is a point at which everything that has happened up to now stops dead and a new situation develops. We need further consultation on how that consultative period is managed to ensure a satisfactory transition, and I will be careful to bear that in mind.
We are dealing with Committee Stage of the Bill; Report and Final Stages will be taken next; then the Bill will go to the Seanad and I await the examination of the regulations, etc. For example, in Part III, the establishment of the Roads Authority is dependent on a review of the national road classification and order under section 10. There are many other areas which require detailed work. As soon as it is possible to achieve that, it is my intention to bring the Bill into force without delay.
Question put and agreed to.
Sections 4 to 6, inclusive, agreed to.