Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Hanlon for her presentation. She spoke about the programme for Government in reference to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. In it there is a commitment that Ireland will make an application to the European Union for Trans-European Transport Networks, TEN-T, funding for services in the west. However, nothing has been done in that regard. Why not? Freedom of information requests have been forwarded to the Department, but it seems to be very reluctant to provide information.

From what the officials have said, the priority when it comes to funding for the inter-urban rail network under the national development plan is to protect investment already made in the network by funding maintenance and safety projects which are needed to maintain service levels in railway operations. If we are to move to the wonderland world about which everybody goes on where we will move towards the use of electric vehicles from Dublin to Cork, Belfast, Galway or Westport, from speaking to people in Iarnród Éireann, it appears that the cost will be €3 billion. Is that money available?

I do not want the officials to box from my next question because I have been trying to get to the root of it for about six months. There is a rail corridor from Limerick to Galway and talk of a rail review of services connecting Athenry, Tuam and Claremorris. When representatives of the NTA appeared before us, they said the review would cover the eastern side of the country. Two groups have appeared before the joint committee that I have tried to nail down to get a straight answer. It has been alleged that a rail review is ongoing. Do the officials agree that when it comes to funding, the Department has no intention of opening the rail corridor because their statement is very clear? I have spoken to Barry Kenny and in detail about services to places such as Longford and Athlone and the use of high speed trains, but we need to make sure we are not talking about apples and oranges. The Netherlands is the same size as Munster and has a population three and a half times the size of that of Munster, yet it is more economical to run trains around it. We need to make sure we will not get carried away. I fully understand Ireland is more remote, but we need to nail down an answer to the question as to whether there will be a western rail corridor? I have been waiting for an answer to that question for about two years.

Do the officials agree that emissions from Euro 6 engines are the same as for gas engines? Has the Department carried out research into the use of bio-diesel buses? It is my understanding there is a company in England, 20% of the buses of which are electric, and that after three years, it is getting rid of the lot because the batteries have been giving ferocious trouble. Will we jump into the sea and be unable to swim when we spend a lot of money? Has the issue been fully researched and is the system workable?

On transport policy in Galway, I do not think the west matters to the Department for the simple reason that there is no Luas service there. It is like the words of Nanci Griffith's song "From A Distance". Next week we are going to An Bord Pleanála to consider the outer bypass. We will probably travel around the world and back again, with people objecting to the project which might proceed in seven or eight years time after a heap of court cases. The situation is chronic and I live 40 miles from Galway, but the officials might not know about it because they do not live there. I live 112 or 118 miles from Dublin and can get to Leinster House faster than I can to the county council building in Galway. Is it not a fierce denunciation of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport that a city such as Galway to which the biggest companies have come does not have a rail network and infrastructure that can handle the volume of traffic going into it? In case the officials do not know, Galway city is losing jobs, even in areas where it is growing. I am not criticising a Government; it is due to the lack of infrastructure.

Every year we meet business people in the west. Senator Hopkins will also raise this issue. There are companies in Westport that tell us that 20% of their goods are damaged by the time they reach Dublin because the road from Westport to Mullingar is a disaster. The officials spoke about the quantities of goods being transported by road. At the same time, there are many small towns to which Expressway services have been cut. We should bear in mind that we are talking about the need to get people to use buses instead of their cars. At the same time, we have problems with haulage services on the rail network because the carriage of passengers must be prioritised.

The Department is examining the position regarding hackneys. I have dealt with a licence. Prior to making an application, the person applying must go to the local authority for a letter stating that there is a need in an area and, after three months, he or she receives a lovely letter stating that a study is required. These people operate on a voluntary basis and they are needed by communities. When the letter to which I refer is issued, a community group must formulate a study to prove that someone is needed to provide a service in an area where there is currently none. People are sick to their back teeth of the paperwork involved. I can answer the question on this because I dealt with a licence application. We compiled a study, which we were then told was out of date even though there was no mode of public or private transport in the area. People must still get a community group to carry out an analysis - without funding - of why an area needs someone to bring a few people home from the pub.

Last night, I was speaking to a guy who bought a new bus. Under the rural transport scheme, it is now compulsory that buses must be wheelchair accessible. That is good and I agree with it. If, however, someone wants to bring US tourists from Kerry to Donegal and he or she buys a new bus, there is nothing in writing about it having to be wheelchair accessible. Whether a bus owner gets the VAT back depends on the length of the bus. Under the rural transport scheme, making a bus wheelchair accessible costs €6,000. This means it would cost €12,000 to accommodate two wheelchairs and the bus owner will not get the VAT back. If we are trying to incentivise people in rural areas to buy proper buses in order that they might provide local transport, why are we driving them away? At the same time, depending on the size of the bus and whether there is a big bumper on it, people will get the VAT back. Our guests know that LocalLink transport providers use smaller 18 or 20-seater buses because they will not bring 53-seaters down a bog road. They must go to all the expense. It probably costs the Department and the NTA more because there is no incentive.

Our guests referred to 100,000 km of road network throughout the country. Galway has one 20th of the overall total. Why is County Galway less funded per kilometre of road than 99% of the remainder of the country? We have had departmental officials speak on this. We can speak about property tax and that we are getting €12.5 million from central government but €14.5 million was collected in property tax so the local authority gave back an extra €1.5 million.

Our guests referred to Cork and Mallow. Is there any vision to put in place what I would call a proper road from Mullingar to Westport? I know our guests will speak about Collooney and Tarmonbarry but they are only pieces. What I mean by a proper road is a dual carriageway at minimum. Will this also be the case from the Tuam motorway up to Letterkenny? The motorway is exceptionally good. It has provided a connection all the way down. When the route from Cork to Mallow is completed, it will be a fine road. If we look at the area that includes Sligo we do not have a proper bus service in Galway or all of the towns that will be made cities under the 2040 plan. We have no plan whatsoever for a Luas or tram system. The witnesses spoke about park and ride, which is a great idea, but seeing it will be believing it. Where is the vision? The start to the vision is in the first question I asked about the TEN-T funding. I know the ifs and percentages involved. I am not asking about them. It is written in the programme for Government but we are two and a half years into that so why has it not been put in place to go from the west to the north of Ireland?