James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials. I will surprise him by not being as parochial as I usually am. I have a few national issues to raise. I am worried about NIFTI because I feel it is another fence in a process that could outdo the Grand National when it comes to building infrastructure. I have been through this with the Minister before, particularly at the meeting in October. It takes between eight and 15 years to build a road in this country. To answer some of the questions the Minister put to my colleagues a few minutes ago about building rail lines, the problem is similar if not worse in rail.

There are many things we do right in Ireland. It is a fantastic country to live in and I often think we put ourselves down too often. However, here is one area we are not doing enough on, as I know the Minister will acknowledge. That is investment in public transport. It has been a problem historically. I note Mr. Ebrill is here. What we did with roads from the 1990s until 2010 was transformative. Much of that was under Fianna Fáil Governments and that is something our party holds dear and proud. When it comes to the transitional or modal shift we require for investing in public transport, we are nowhere near where we should be in a country as developed as ours. Given the wealth of the State in comparison with many countries, it could be strongly argued we are not doing enough.

I think it is sinful that, although the all-Ireland rail review is ongoing, we are not entertaining the proposal for high-speed rail in excess of 300 km/h. It is daft. I often hear many of the Minister's colleagues in the Green Party speaking about higher speed rail. We need to look at that area. I would almost disregard the transition to electric vehicles and put full focus on the electrification of intercity lines. It is possible to travel from Cork to Dublin using technology that is already used in France, Belgium, the UK, Germany and China, for example. This existing technology can be bought and implemented in Ireland and could provide journey times between our big cities of, in some cases, under an hour. That would transform every part of rural Ireland, particularly on the existing Cork-Dublin, Dublin-Belfast and Limerick-Dublin lines. I want to see the Minister, as a Green Party Minister who cares deeply about public transport, put a degree of focus on that. This is not a bypass that will cost €50 million; it is a multibillion euro investment that the Department should be looking at.

Is NIFTI just another analysis and another step to interrupt a process that is already highly complex? I was delighted to hear Deputy Lowry refer to the planning process, which I have raised with the Minister already. It is a disgrace as it stands. The damage serial blockers are able to do to a process where there should be alternative ways for making representations when issues exist around planning is a huge concern to development in Ireland. We know it has cost us billions of euro of potential investment. The Minister made his point on the democratic process and I appreciate where he is coming from, but not to acknowledge that is an issue is a cause of serious concern. The Minister needs to take that on board because walking the streets of rural Ireland, I find that it is an issue everywhere. People come from far and wide to object to projects in towns. Public transport is an area where that has been a huge hindrance. Will the Minister reply on those points? I will contribute again if the Chair gives me some time.