Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair. I have some questions on public transport, and will focus on that because I have limited time.

There were some very interesting facts in the Minister's presentation. Half the daytime population of Ireland's three largest cities travel from outside the cities. In 2016, 230,000 people commuted for at least one hour a day each way, which is a 30% increase in long commutes in just five years. I picked up a newspaper recently and read an article which said that there are only eight other countries in the world where one is likely to be spending longer per week backed up in traffic. Ireland is ninth in the world for gridlock. In the average European city public transport can get 80% of the people travelling to work in the city into the city each morning. Even if all of our public transport services were working at 100% capacity, the figure for Dublin is 50%. We lag way behind. Conor Faughnan said that in the long run, the only way to resolve this is through serious investment in public transport. He is 100% correct.

I am going to make the case for public transport even more strongly and talk about climate change. The Minister's speech and the document highlight the issue. They contrast with the actions of Government representatives in Luxembourg during the week when the 2030 targets were being discussed. They, along with eastern European governments, sought that the targets be set on the minimal side of the 2013 climate change and carbon emission targets. It is an open secret that the Government and the State are going to fall way short of meeting the 2020 targets, that fines are going to be levied on the State as a result of that - probably in excess of €500 million - and that on current trends we stand to be fined billions for falling short on the 2030 targets. There is much work to be done. I say that in the week we were hit by a hurricane.

Who are the main offenders in terms of carbon emissions? Agriculture is number one. Number two is transport. This strengthens the case for public transport. We can fill the country with electric cars, but there is no substitute for investment in public transport as a way of cutting down on carbon emissions from the transport sector. Where do things stand there, and what is to be done? Dublin Bus, Iarnród Éireann and Bus Éireann all currently receive less State funding than they did in 2008. The cuts that were made during the austerity years have been partially reversed, but even at this stage, four years after the turn in the economy, they have not been fully reversed. Those cuts should be completely reversed. There is a powerful argument to be made, from the point of view of gridlock and climate change, to double the invest in public transportation and investment in those three companies. There is also a powerful argument for a cheap fares policy to be introduced. In 1981 the Greater London Council slashed fares on public transport, including the London Underground, by 30%. There was a big increase in public transportation usage. London Transport said that the benefits outweighed the costs on a two to one basis.

The Government and the Department may say the State cannot afford investment on that scale. I would argue, however, that the State cannot afford not to have investment on that scale. One only has to consider the looming carbon emission fines of billions of euro coming down the tracks.

The document is aspirational and woolly on these issues. Will the Minister give more concrete proposals as to how we can reverse the trend of cuts in public transport and seriously invest in it as a key part of a national planning framework?