Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on Transport 21. While I am delighted I am following another western Member, I cannot manage the same level of congratulation regarding the prospects or achievements of Transport 21. Those of us who welcomed investment in transport infrastructure reasonably asked questions regarding the relative allocations under Transport 21. A more specific commitment to public transport is needed compared with the commitment to the road network. I wish to be constructive, irrespective of which Government takes decisions in this regard. It is revelatory that, while we have a National Roads Authority, we do not have a national transport authority. If such an authority were in place, it could be reasonably assumed it would deal with multimodal forms of transport.

Transport issues are not solely based on commercial factors nor are they simply defined in terms of time. Inevitably, all transport decisions are structured within the two parameters of time and space but a rights dimension to such decisions must be respected. A person who is too young, old or infirm to drive a car or who cannot afford a car has the right to communicate with other people. If it is accepted that one has a right to be in communication in one's society, this right should be implemented in a multimodal way. People walk, cycle, use taxis, drive private cars and take the train or bus. The clearest fact staring us in the face is that it is in everybody's interest, globally and domestically, to reduce the priority given to the private car in transport planning and to provide a greater space for pubic transport, through investment in buses, trains, taxis and multiple occupancy in private cars. This is important not only for the soundest environmental and ecological reasons but it also makes a great deal of sense in regard to waste.

I have had the honour of representing Galway for a long time and we are on the verge of a disastrous decision on public transport in the city. Given the lack of a national transport authority, I wish Members from the west would support an integrated regional approach to transport. There should be a regional transport authority to deal with, for example, Galway city and county. The previous speaker outlined a litany of road improvements in County Galway. However, Ceannt Station in Galway City sits on a 14-acre site. A former Minister for Transport wrote to CIE requesting an audit of its land so excess land could be sold. The 14-acre site in Galway is desperately needed to provide a hub for an integrated regional transport solution for the west. I agree with the previous speaker who was correct to welcome the development of the Sligo-Limerick connection. However, if commuter traffic by rail and bus increases, which is also welcome, bus lanes are introduced in Galway city and Connemara is linked to the other side of County Galway, Iarnród Éireann needs to retain ownership of that site to provide a proper terminus in the city. Currently, people using bus services struggle with their cases as they enter the station without shelter from the rain because they are fighting for space with people who have alighted from trains and are leaving the station. It is primitive in terms of its under provision.

An additional track will be laid to Galway and five or six bus bays will be added but it has been suggested the remainder of the site will be sold for retail and residential development, which is not needed in the city centre. A study was conducted, which highlighted that the last thing the city needs is another significant retail establishment because it would be developed at the cost of retail activity in satellite towns such as Tuam and Athenry. It is outrageous that there is no public discussion about a regional integrated approach to transport. Only two public meetings have been held and they were organised by the Labour Party. One was held in Oranmore and the other in the Great Southern Hotel, Galway, as a result of which it was proposed to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of a light rail proposal. Following that meeting, I wrote to the Minister for Transport. The Minister responded by stating that because such a proposal was not included in Transport 21, he had no intention of funding it. I received the same answer to a follow-up parliamentary question. Galway City Council passed a unanimous resolution asking for a study to be done on a light rail project, but it was refused. I welcome the possibility of CIE's involvement in this regard.

It is important for those of us with an interest in transport in the west to realise that more bus lanes are needed in Galway city. It is pathetic that a Minister of State opened an extension to a bus lane instead of granting permission for more lanes. An integrated multimodal transport provision is needed.

I agree with Deputy Callanan on another aspect, that is, if such a provision were made, stations were linked and there was a proper terminus, one would increase options for families who want to live near the new towns, reduce the amount of time a person spends locked in a car and make possible all sorts of educational opportunities. Balanced and better provisions relieve urban diseconomies and use rural infrastructure better. All of this is possible if there is proper planning, but nothing in Transport 21 refers to a regional approach to transport, a regional or national transport authority or whether priority will be given to public transport options, and whether the ratio between buses and rail services on the one hand and roads on the other will be changed.

Regarding the outrageous disposal of public property, CIE is not a property development company. Under the transport Acts, it is a public transport company and it is for this purpose that it owns land and sites across the country. The onus is on CIE to show what is surplus to public transport needs, but there has been no attempt to do so.

One lives with the real fear that sites in the ownership of CIE, the statutory public transport authority, will be sold on the market for purposes that have nothing to do with public transport. If such were to happen, there should be public consultation. If CIE goes ahead with its plans and pursues the realisation of the maximum commercial value of its sites, it will probably be operating ultra vires and should be challenged legally. CIE has a clear duty under the Acts to show its projected needs.

In Galway city, County Galway and Connacht, we want ease of access. We would all welcome the elimination of bottlenecks in the road network, but if one is to develop north-south access as described previously, one must do so in an integrated way. It would provide a wonderful opportunity to solve school transport problems. Not only does one make it possible for families to live in rural County Galway towns by enabling them to purchase sites, but one also makes it possible for them to send children to local schools, which assists significantly in terms of planning.

In the event of Ceannt Station in Galway city being surplus to public transport requirements, CIE's first duty should be to offer the site to the local authority for the provision of badly needed facilities. For example, Galway has no school of music or city art gallery — I could give a long list. The surplus space could be used for performances in summer and as an ice rink for youngsters in winter, a place of recreation that, unlike many others now being provided, is not steeped in alcohol.

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