Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

The foundation of liberal economics was the phrase "laissez faire, laissez aller" coined in the 1750s by Vicomte de Gournay, a Frenchman who was part of what Edmund Burke called "that sect of economists". I have always had mixed feelings about tolls given their association with ancien régime Europe where they obstructed traffic and commerce. However, we have, for what must be admitted good reasons, had to reintroduce them to a certain extent. It is possible — I hope we will see them very soon — to have tolls which do not involve physical barriers as in the worst and most notorious case of the M50 toll bridge. I cannot find in the Minister's speech a precise date as to when the toll at the West Link will become electronic, but I hope it is soon.

While all sensible people avoid the M50 during rush hour if they can, considerable queues may also form outside that time. However, I am not so naive as to believe that when the obstruction is removed, traffic will not pile up promptly at some other pressure point. I have paid a few times for the pleasure or privilege of using the port tunnel which is a marvellous example of infrastructure. It speeds up a journey from the south side to the airport and gives one another option although one has to pay for it. As for swimming pools and lakes, I saw no moisture in the tunnel unless it was from the wheels of trucks.

Reference was made to a motorway between Dublin and Cork. I remember being a child in the 1950s before the Naas dual-carriageway was constructed when it used to take at least an hour, if not longer, to get from Naas to Dublin. Some time ago, we had a trip down memory lane, unfortunately due to a tragic accident at the M7-M9 junction, when we had to travel painfully through Kildare, Newbridge and Naas. It took the best part of two hours with modern levels of traffic and reminded one of the way things were. One was reminded if one needed it of the marvellous infrastructural progress which has been made. Deputy Durkan referred to planning ahead. There are critics of the intercity motorways who say current traffic volumes do not fully justify motorway infrastructure on every stretch of each route. The existence of such criticism, however, is proof that we are planning ahead and providing extra capacity now. While fine plans were made in the past, the money was not there to pay for them, unfortunately.

I am very enthusiastic about the provision in the Bill to upgrade the dual carriageways which are motorways in nature. One is reminded of those newspaper cartoons where one is invited to spot the difference. I must not be observant and percipient enough because I cannot see what difference there is between the Glanmire bypass and a motorway. On the assumption that the upgrade to motorway status will mean an upgrade to motorway speed limits, the change will deliver a better return on the hundreds of millions of euro we have invested in our road network. I cannot for the life of me see why the dual carriageway on the N4 beyond Kinnegad to the outskirts of Mullingar is not designated a motorway.

It is not before time that we are making provision for rest places on our road network. As the continuous stretches of motorway lengthen and link up, the shortage of places to stop becomes more acute. The conspiratorial side of me wonders if a spoken or unspoken deal was made some time in the past with the traders of particular towns that if they were bypassed, no services would be provided on the dual carriageways or motorways outside them. Whatever the case, it is high time the matter was corrected.

I draw the attention of the Minister to a particular aspect of the transport plans which involves the provision of cross-linkage. It was receiving the attention of his predecessor and continues to need urgent attention now.

The one flaw in the Atlantic corridor concept is that it is a large curve on a map which takes in Sligo, Galway, Limerick, Cork and Waterford but nobody travels from Limerick or Galway to Waterford via Cork. People take the N24 from Limerick to Waterford and we have congestion particularly in those towns which do not have a bypass, namely, Tipperary town and Cahir. Clonmel has an inner bypass but needs an outer bypass. Carrick-on-Suir has an inner relief road but traffic does not go through the main streets. It is becoming an acute bottleneck and I do not need to tell the Minister the importance of the ports of Waterford and Rosslare. The tremendous amount of heavy freight traffic means the situation which we had for a long time in Gorey, New Ross and at its most extreme in Ennis is being created in Tipperary. The situation in Gorey will soon come to an end when the bypass is completed.

The Minister's predecessor met with Tipperary Town Council approximately three months ago with regard to the significant stretch of road from Oola or Pallasgreen in County Limerick to beyond Bansha. He stated money was provided in this year's budget for further design work and it will be upgraded to dual carriageway which will involve redesign. It should commence in 2009. I, my colleague from Tipperary South, Deputy Mattie McGrath, and the entire community, are extremely anxious to see it not merely started but completed during this term of Government. Limerick to Waterford is an essential cross-linkage. If nothing were done about it and the wait stretched from one hour to two hours one could eventually force people to go via Cork but this would defeat the purpose. This is my number one priority. The position at Cahir is different because it intersects with the M8 bypass which will also sort out the N24.

One often suspects that many of the people who speak about buses in the media have not used a bus for a very long time. I use all forms of public transport as well as a car. I use trains, the Luas and DART when I am in Dublin and buses. A tremendous amount of ongoing investment and improvement is taking place in public transport as well as in road transport. We have great services. The Luas is marvellous. I parked my car at the Red Cow park and ride facility this morning so I could get away reasonably quickly this evening. I took the Luas to the forum on Europe. The only problem is that longer carriages are required on the Tallaght line but I believe they will arrive within a few months.

The improved frequency of the train service from Dublin to Cork is greatly appreciated by those who use it. I use Limerick Junction and Thurles stations. We have more space and less overcrowding on the trains. I regret the underutilised capacity on our railways which could be used for heavy, slow-moving freight. I do not mean all types of freight. If the Minister examines discussions from the early years of this decade, he will see an expert group from Britain suggested Iarnród Éireann should get out of freight altogether. This seemed to consider its local focus without examining energy or environmental considerations. The Minister should explore freight use with Iarnród Éireann. If more mineral developments are opened up, particularly in the vicinity of a railway line, strong encouragement should be give to the company promoting or exploiting those ore deposits to use our railways.

I made a suggestion in the Seanad which perhaps is not dealt with directly in the Bill that the penalty points system should be applied to the problem of litter. This has been picked up or perhaps somebody thought of it in parallel. Vehicles are involved in a great deal of littering. I would not hesitate to attach five penalty points per sack of litter dumped at night in addition to any other penalty. I do not see why people who throw non-biodegradable rubbish out of their cars such as cigarette packs or plastic bottles should not incur two penalty points.

The Minister was responsible for one of the most brilliant environmental initiatives introduced in the State, namely, the 15 cent levy, which may have increased, on plastic bags which defaced the countryside. A vast improvement has been made since then. The impact of this was not that 15 cent would bankrupt anybody but it had a psychological deterrent effect. Applying penalty points to litter put out on roads from vehicles would be a major deterrent. I recommend the idea to the Minister.

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