Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry for being so enthusiastic; I did not leave too much time for answers. I will be much more strategic with my seven minutes. I will focus on TU Dublin. It was said that transport projects are ultimately political and require accountability and oversight. I agree with that. BusConnects and such projects, rational as we may believe them to be, need to be both challenging and championed politically. Those are two profound statements. I want the delegates to comment on them. Before they do so, I will make two other points.

The delegates referred in their submissions to a Dublin transport advisory council and giving it limited executive powers. I am interested in reserve functions and the importance of our city and county councillors, who are democratically elected. I like to see equal weighting. Deputy Leddin talked about councils being led by the executive, but we have elected city and county councillors. They have a really important role, have their finger on the pulse and are very close to the citizen. That is one of the great things about local government in Ireland. That is an important point. The delegates might refer to the Dublin Transport Authority Advisory council. They talked about the legislation being in place and would like to see it rolled out.

The TU Dublin delegates talked about regulations concerning messaging and imagery in the car advertising sector. They made a comparison with the advertising standards for alcohol and gambling in Ireland. That is interesting.

Those are three questions I would like the witnesses to tease out with me in some detail.