Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the capital investment of €45 million in public transport. The Minister will be aware that Mr. David Franks, chief executive of Iarnród Éireann, recently indicated that over time €100 million in investment will be required if the company’s operation is to remain viable and kept up to date. Does this €45 million go some way towards that commitment, or had Mr. Franks already banked that when he made his statement on the company’s viability?
The Minister stated €1 million will be given to sporting bodies for equipment this year. I know the Irish Sailing Association was disappointed in its application for an earlier round in the sports capital programme. Will it be considered for this extra €1 million in funding? Obviously, it is an expensive sport in which to participate. I hope it will be considered in the context of this Supplementary Estimate.
The roads programme needs much more money. Successive Governments have had to reduce the care and maintenance of the road network. Normally, it would be done on a seven-year cycle but it has now been pushed out which is effectively storing up real problems in the not-too-distant future. I hope the Minister will win the argument in government to get more funding for the road network. The longer one fails to get the funding needed to keep roads at their current standard, then problems are being stored up. The National Roads Authority has been quite vociferous on this.
The number of road fatalities and injuries increased last year. I do not want to be partisan about this as it has always been tackled in a non-partisan way but there is a trend towards another increase which starts to show we are losing the battle in this. It falls largely out of the Department’s remit as much of the data points to the lack of funds available to the Garda to ensure proper enforcement. The question of the courts dealing with the GoSafe vans and the report in today’s Irish Independenton penalty points are matters of grave concern. If there is a requirement to bring forward primary legislation to make amends for legal loopholes, the Minister will have my full support. Will he clarify what issues are involved?