Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 December 2015
9. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he will review or if he has reviewed the public transport policies and investment budget, given Ireland's legally binding emissions commitments and given the agreements made at the COP21 meeting in Paris in France. [44880/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis question flows from an earlier question on climate change in reply to which the Minister was a little defensive. I did not say the Department had done nothing but it has not done enough in the context of climate change and the fact that transport is the second largest non-emissions trading sector. This has a key impact on our emissions targets, particularly now, given we were not on target to meet the 2° target. The Paris agreement has changed that to 1.5° by 2050. What change in public transport plans will the Minister put in place to take account of the new agreement reached in Paris last week?
I was simply pointing to what is being done and the big changes that have been secured. I am also acknowledging what needs to be done. As opposed to going through the material I shared with the Deputy earlier, I will outline new information in this regard.
With regard to our bus fleet, I propose to establish a green bus fund for the period 2017-20 to support the purchase of cleaner and greener public transport vehicles. The main purpose of the fund will be to cover the differential between the cost of a conventional diesel bus and an alternatively fuelled equivalent. It is hoped and planned that the fund will help to accelerate the introduction of alternatively fuelled vehicles across the public transport sector. These measures will focus on supporting the change in the current fleet stock of hybrid vehicles as double deck or single deck vehicles to make them potentially fully electric for both Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann. This has the aim of delivering reduced vehicle emissions, improved air quality and health benefits, lower fuel costs, reduced operating costs and increased security of supply. These vehicles would also have the potential to utilise a renewable fuel source, namely biomethane, all of which has the objective of trying to improve the efficiency and quality of our public bus fleet in the context of the agenda the Deputy has outlined, which I accept will pose challenges for Ireland that we will need to respond to.
It is clear the Government has not taken on board the scale of the crisis. To achieve the target set in Paris, there would have to be a near complete decarbonisation of the world economy with a wholesale shift away from fossil fuels to renewable sources. I welcome the fact that there will be more green buses. That will be great and I compliment the Minister on that but the problem is that public transport fares have increased by 60% and, therefore, it has become less attractive to people. We might have cleaner buses but instead of people using them, they are being forced into their cars. Dublin Bus is reliant on circuitous routes that transport people all around north County Dublin before, for example, bringing them into town, which does not make the service attractive. When Iarnród Éireann publishes a timetable that does not service key urban areas such as Donabate at peak times, people from those areas do not have an opportunity to get home by rail from the city centre, which means fewer people on trains. While I accept there has been more investment, everything needs to be stood on its head. A total of 60% of the capital investment plan for transport published in September will go on the road network. If we are to tackle climate change, that has to be move in the opposite direction.
The investment in our road network is intended to make it safer in many cases and to join up facilities, assets and cities that need better connectivity. I thank the Deputy for acknowledging that we are making progress in the public transport sector. I accept we need to make more progress and I have outlined how we are working on that. However, it is also important to acknowledge the big change under way in respect to the numbers of people using public transport. Based on the analysis the Deputy offered, one would think fewer people were using public transport than a year ago. More people are using Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Luas and Irish Rail services, particularly the DART and suburban rail services. Contrary to what she suggested, more people are using public transport and we need to continue to invest in this in line with the plan I outlined, which seeks to substantially increase service provision. Over the past 18 months, an additional €90 million has been made available to support the improvement, maintenance and upgrading of the Dublin Bus fleet.
Congestion levels are also increasing. They have reached 2008 levels in recent times. We need to get more out of public transport. Private car journeys need to be reduced, yet the plan unveiled by the Minister in September said that 60% of his capital budget would go on the road network, which supports private transport in the main, not public transport. The Government needs to radically overhaul and prioritise rail transport, particularly in financial terms. Only €3.6 billion is promised for public transport over seven years, of which €2.6 billion will maintain current service provision. It is indisputable that Ireland would not have met the target in place prior to the Paris agreement but to reach the new target of 1.5°, we have to do something different from what the Minister planned in September. I am wondering what that will be because justifying the amount being spent on roads will not do it for us. We will fall far short.
I hope the Deputy accepts that many of the public transport services to which I have referred will have to use the roads in which we are investing. Bus Éireann buses will have to use the roads we are upgrading. The Deputy can talk to the company's managers about the needs they have in the context of improving our road infrastructure in order that public transport can work better. Public transport runs on our roads and if she thinks there is no need for this investment, she should travel along the parts of the N4 and N5 we are looking to upgrade to see what is happening and the challenges faced in the context of road safety.
What about the rail network?
She should travel the road between Cork and Kerry we are looking to upgrade, via the Ballyvourney to Macroom project, and see the difference that could be made to road safety. She should also visit Deputy Pringle's constituency and examine the road projects that have been welcomed there. They all address road safety. One of the points the Deputy is missing in the question she has put is the investment in our roads is justified on a road safety basis and to allow different forms of transport, including public transport, to travel more quickly and safely. I agree with her that we have a shared objective of trying to get more people to use public transport but the capital plan, which provides that almost one third of additional funding will go to transport, was put together in anticipation of the agenda that our country will have to implement.
