Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Fitzgerald. I join in the thanks expressed to the retiring chief executive officer and the members of the board for the work they have done.

Mr. Fitzgerald knows well the part of the world I represent. For the National Transport Authority to be what it says on the tin, it should also encompass roads. I do not believe we will ever get an integrated transport network in Ireland while we have an agency responsible for roads, an agency responsible for local roads, namely, the local authority, and the National Transport Authority, which is responsible for practically everything that goes on in Dublin in terms of public transport infrastructure. While an effort has been made to merge the Rail Procurement Agency with the National Roads Authority, the National Transport Authority should be what it says on the tin, namely, responsible for all elements of transport and not just those areas within the M50 which it currently covers.

Regarding the areas outside the M50, I compliment the NTA's taxi and hackney sub-committee chaired by Pat Byrne. I met the members recently on an issue the members of this committee will be blue in the face hearing me raise. In terms of the part of the world from which Mr. Fitzgerald originates, if he were to apply for a hackney licence in Anglesborough he would be expected to know on what street in Glin is the post office or where in Foynes is Mount Trenchard.

A person collecting a hackney fare in Anglesboro, Kilbehenny, Ballyfaskin, Ballylanders or anywhere in that part of the country will probably need to know more about Mitchelstown, Cahir or Tipperary town than about Abbeyfeale or Athea. It is three years since I started raising this, and my jaws are worn at this stage.

To be fair, the hackney and taxi committee met me and listened to what I said. It will have its own deliberations on it. However, it never fails to bamboozle me that a person in Goleen in west Cork is expected to know where the AIB in Mitchelstown is simply because it happens to be in the same county. It is ludicrous. Whatever else Mr. Fitzgerald does in the next two and a half years he is in office, will he please try to get rid of that system? It assesses people in rural areas on their ability to deliver a public service based on this notional thing called a county, which we were left with by the British. If one is from Deputy O'Mahony's part of the world, near the town of Ballaghaderreen on the Roscommon border in east Mayo, one will be asked about Belmullet, Killala, Cong and other such places, to which one will probably never travel, but one will not be asked about the neighbouring parish on the other side of the river in County Roscommon. This matter is really beginning to irritate me.

Mr. Fitzgerald mentioned heavy rail. Limerick is by far the best-fed city in Ireland in terms of rail. It has connections to Galway, Nenagh, through the junction to Tipperary and out to Foynes. I believe two lines have potential. The first is the Foynes line for freight. Foynes is the deepest port in the country. Given that all transport is under the remit of the authority, the authority's relationship with ports is something it might examine. There is a rail corridor into the port of Foynes and it would be fantastic if it could be reopened for freight. The possibility of extracted ore, bulk meal and bulk fertilisers arriving into the port, not to mention bulk exports, represents a fantastic opportunity. I am aware that Íarnród Éireann is considering it but perhaps Mr. Fitzgerald would comment on that.

The other rail line that has potential is the Galway to Limerick line, which has been lampooned by some elements in the media. There are still speed restrictions on it, despite massive capital investment. It is a nice journey, but one would not want to be in a hurry. The bus from Galway will bring one to Limerick faster. That was not the original concept, which was to link Limerick to Sligo through Athenry and Mayo in the west. There are speed restrictions and the line is flooded at certain times of the year. The possibility of investment in the west of Ireland rail corridor to link Sligo to Limerick and Cork is reduced considerably due to the speed restriction that is maintained between Limerick and Athenry. Perhaps Mr. Fitzgerald will refer to that as well.

Finally, all politics is local and all transport is local as well. There has been a significant investment in cycling in city centres through bicycle rental schemes and so forth. Parallel with that there is a network of greenways across the country, whose focus has been on the tourism package and on recreational bicycle use. Does Mr. Fitzgerald envisage any relationship with those greenways in terms of the development of cycling in the future? Is the National Transport Authority satisfied that the cycle to work scheme is actually a cycle to work scheme?