Mr. Siim Kallas:

Ireland can be proud of its record on road safety as it has one of the best. Last year, 2011, was bad overall in that the decline in the number of casualties stopped in Europe. In Europe, we have substantially reduced the number of casualties but last year was not good.

Deputy Dooley has mentioned an important issue but I refer to what was actually decided in December 2010 by the member states' transport Council regarding so-called cross-border enforcement of traffic violations, which will come into force in 2013 - that is, next year. It means Ireland can punish foreign drivers. All over Europe the proportion of foreign drivers who cause accidents is much greater than that of local drivers. Under this legislation, Ireland finally can punish or stop drivers who violate traffic regulations in respect of the so-called four killers - namely, drinking, speeding, not wearing a seat belt and ignoring a red light. This legislation has been adopted but there is an issue regarding the legislative basis, about which I am probably not competent to answer because I do not understand it. Basically, a political decision has been made whereby European country X - I do not know the position in respect of Ireland's neighbouring country - can ask its neighbouring country to ask those drivers who have violated rules to pay penalties by country X's rates. While this decision is in place, there is debate about its legal basis and whether it pertains to police co-operation or transport co-operation. If it is the latter there is no facility for an opt-out, but if the former, Ireland and the United Kingdom have such an opt-out facility. During this discussion, the Governments of both countries indicated they were considering an opt-out. However, everyone, including the United Kingdom, has been positive about the substance. Consequently, I really do not know what is the present status of this legal debate, although the political decision has been made.

Air transport, like many other sectors, will consolidate. This is for sure, especially in the context of global competition. We have often discussed with European airlines where the first global company will be. Such a global company will be good. Countries such as Ireland and Estonia must have connections. As having direct connections is so vital, something must be done in this regard. I do not know exactly what but some kind of public support must be available. At present, the Commission is discussing the so-called state aid guidelines for aviation, which I believe are going for public consultation next week. It will emanate from the Directorate General for Competition, as it is a competition directive rather than a transport directive. Members can access the relevant websites or can get in touch via their representatives and can really participate in the discussion process. In this context, we must consider how to help bodies such as regional airports. I do not wish to dwell on this at length because there are many nuances. In some countries, there are too many regional airports and they are competing with one another. They may be 100 km apart but both are asking for money from taxpayers and governments. The Commission is not happy with this and it cannot tolerate it. The guidelines also seek to address this issue. The day before yesterday, we discussed the political substance of these guidelines with Commissioner Almunia. Consequently, this is coming.

As for the distribution of projects concerning infrastructure, there is no arithmetic model. When preparing for parliamentary hearings I asked my people about the same issue - namely, what calculations can show that one project is better than another - but there is no arithmetic model. As Deputy Colreavy mentioned in his question, the reality is that implementing the project will bring economic growth. While accessibility will bring growth, no one can calculate ex antehow big this will be. While there is an understanding that this will bring growth, again, there are nuances in Europe. Some countries have been successful in implementing lots of transport projects, but thereafter one must maintain new roads and so on and there will be new difficulties in future. I do not wish to mention specific countries, but some have been too active. Obviously, this is a matter in which political decision-making and commonsensical calculations must be put together in order to assess and then select necessary projects. This of course is a matter for the Irish Government because, at European level, we are dealing with cross-border projects. If we have money, then we will see what projects it is possible to finance. However, I note that were the member states' governments to give us €500 million, we would have one type of policy, but were we to receive tens of billions, we would have another type of policy. Obviously, however, this issue always will be in the hands of the member states.