Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The issue of travel patterns needs to be addressed. We have allowed ourselves to slip into unsustainable patterns of growth and much of that is driven by the planning system and the failure to integrate public transport systems with the significant growth in housing over the past decade, with 600,000 new houses being built. There was not a commensurate expansion in public transport to provide options for all these householders. The increase in public transport investment must be complemented with schemes such as those proposed in the amendments. One disappointing element of what happened over the past five years in Dublin city is that, although the Government clearly recognised public transport constituted a core issue, the provision of additional buses, which was the quickest solution to the public transport needs of the city, was ignored.

Dublin Bus languished for five years without new buses. Competitors who were supposed to add capacity to the bus network in Dublin were not invited to tender and the system did not square up to the challenge. As a result, car ownership has increased significantly and the Kyoto thresholds have been exceeded. Transport has broken the pattern the Government hoped would be followed. The lack of joined up thinking has led to a failure to create incentives, infrastructures and integrated ticketing throughout the public transport system. This is an area of serious disappointment in the execution of a joined up policy by Government and it needs to be addressed seriously.

Inevitably it is being forced on the Government by impending problems. A penalty of €270 million will have to be paid to meet our Kyoto commitments. How much better it would be to use that money for productive investment in transport infrastructure. The proposal in the amendment represents joined up thinking on how to incentivise people to make better choices in commuting and I support them for that reason.

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