Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

We have taken so many powers from local government that we must be careful. I do not know if that has been good or correct. We need strong local authorities. We cannot force them. I go back to what I said earlier. We are moving into a phase now where some really good projects will be coming forward all over the country. If a council is not able to make some of the hard decisions and do the innovative thing then we should just be upfront and say that is fine, we will switch the money to another country where they are willing to do it. That is a better approach rather than trying to centralise everything and design from Dublin.

I mentioned the pathfinder projects to Senator Higgins earlier. They are a really good example of that. We are being really clear with the local authorities that are project managing these 35 projects that if they are not hitting timelines or not on track, then we will say that we are sorry, they are not on track. These projects are designed to show how local authorities can be fast. I do not have the details in front of me but one of those projects in Limerick is connecting the three colleges. I do not know the particular scheme the Deputy is talking about but it seems to me that this might be one leg of that. If it is coming from Raheen-Dooradoyle, it must be going past Mary Immaculate College into the city centre, and I presume down O'Connell Street. That would be a transformative project for Limerick because it will not only connect the three colleges but all those places. I am sure many people working in Raheen who are living in another part of the city would cycle out in the morning. It would be transformative. There are already plans for the city centre in Limerick; this would deliver it. Many of those communities out by the Technological University of the Shannon were cut off by lack of access to the city. The likes of Moyross and elsewhere could use that as part of the improved infrastructure.

We are putting in a new bus service and a train station there. Let us also put in a high-quality active travel link as it is just beside the Technological University of the Shannon. We would start to get multiple benefits. I hope Limerick City and County Council supports it on Monday but it is up to the local authority and we cannot force it. If it does not support it we will say that Limerick is not going in that direction and we will put it in Cork, Galway or wherever. This is the way to deal with it.

It is difficult to discuss experimental traffic orders because they are the subject of court discussion as we speak. We have to be sensitive and careful in what we say. Section 38 of the Act allows for experimental traffic orders. The Road Traffic and Roads Bill 2021 is before the Seanad, and I see that Senators Lynn Boylan and Pauline O'Reilly are present. We must conclude our deliberations on the legislation. If we can get it through the Seanad, it will be enacted. We can then use section 38 of the existing Act, whereby the Minister can set out regulations to empower local authorities on where they might apply. Nothing is stopping us from using section 38 at present. Approximately 1,000 schemes throughout the country use section 38. If there is any legal doubt or uncertainty about it I hope the regulations we will set out will help overcome it. It is a very important tool in the armour of local authorities. If a local authority is concerned and nervous about a difficult decision it should try it for two or three years and then, if necessary, remove it.

Without going into specifics because it is subject to court discussion, there was a very high profile case recently on Strand Road where there was a lot of concern about the impact of putting in a facility there. That facility has not yet been put in place but a separate project involving roadworks or drainage in the area has effectively delivered the exact same traffic management circumstances. It will be interesting to see whether it has delivered on the fears of some people. I do not think it has. Obviously, we must keep monitoring it. It is an example of how doing things to see what the change would be might show that it would not be all that was feared. We might start to see some of the benefits. This is what experimental traffic orders can deliver.