Mr. John Fitzgerald:

I am not sure there are many people queueing up to take some of these jobs because there is much responsibility and accountability. I will not say one lies awake at night worrying about it, but one does not take it lightly. I was asked by the former Minister, Mr. Noel Dempsey, to do the job. I never asked for any of these jobs and never made a telephone call asking for them. At the time I said "No" because I was doing many other things. However, he came back and said he thought I was uniquely qualified for the job as I came from a planning and transport background and that was the kind of person he was seeking. When one has one's ego stroked enough, one eventually gives in and I did take on the job and I am glad that I did. The authority has been more successful than I had envisaged. At the start I did not realise it would become a national organisation or that all of the other issues would be bolted on to it. Looking back, I am pleased. I said to the board members the other day that anybody who had been involved in it for the past five years should feel proud of what had been done. Much of the credit for this rests with the individual running it, the CEO, Mr. Gerry Murphy.

If I am back here in two and half years time, what is it that would I like to be able to say? I would like to be able to say the organisation was buzzing, that there was great activity and that many good people worked hard and derived much satisfaction from it. I would like to be able to say we had kept up the momentum and that we had the resources required. If I was to pick one issue - having been involved in transport, public transport, and managing cities for a long time - it would be the need to increase the usage of public transport - in this I include people walking, cycling and using motorbikes. We have tried for many years to increase the usage of public transport, but it is very difficult; it is a stubborn issue. While bus usage is improving, car usage is down a little. I would like to come back in two and a half years time and say we had achieved a significant modal shift, that it had not increased car numbers trying to access all city centres, not just Dublin, but that we had a public transport offering, in all of its shapes and forms, whether it be buses, trains, light rail, the DART, bicycles or motorbikes, similar to that on offer in any other European city, whereby people could get in and out easily and quickly without frustration and the congestion experienced in the past. That is achievable.

In the past five years I have been involved in Limerick and Grangegorman and it has been a question of survival and trying to keep the show on the road. The National Transport Authority is probably one of the few bodies that has taken on more work and increased its workload in that time. All of the others have been trying to stay alive. We are well placed to build on what is in place. The amount of money we have received, €450 million, is considerable. Our staff are well trained and motivated. The relationship we have with the company is difficult at times, but we have enough trust and confidence built between us. At the beginning I did not think the transport companies could understand the need for a regulator and why one should be imposed at our level, but they have become accustomed to it. There is mutual respect which may not have been the case in the past. I am happy to say I could come back in two and a half years time and say we had not only maintained the momentum but built on and increased it.