Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

While this is not major legislation it contains provisions with which one could hardly disagree, including the redesignation of dual carriageways as motorways. We have often been concerned about coming off a motorway on to a dual carriageway only to find a garda waiting to catch people moving into a lower speed limit area. I hope that issue will now be rectified. It is ludicrous that we need legislation to provide for service and rest areas on the national road network. It should have been included in the original legislation and such areas should have been built into all the motorways, including the one to Drogheda and on to the Border, which connects to Belfast. That no service station has been built on the Southern stretch of motorway would be unthinkable in other countries.

We are way behind the times on barrier-free tolling. I remember driving in the United States approximately ten years ago and finding barrier-free tolling was quite common in many states as it is on the Continent. In these areas we should have been more imaginative and far-seeing. Like Deputy Mansergh, I have some reservations about tolling on roads. His reservation related to the ancien régime in France and he gave us some learned references in that regard. Closer to home I refer to Daniel O'Connell who stated at one time that he intended to drive a coach and four through British legislation, and he started when he was Lord Mayor of Dublin in the 1840s. There was a toll on Glasnevin Cemetery beside the Gravediggers pub and Daniel O'Connell decided he would open another entrance to Glasnevin Cemetery. Having done so, he got on to his coach and four and drove through that entrance thus avoiding paying the toll. Ever since then there has been no toll on Glasnevin Cemetery and the original entrance to the cemetery beside the Gravediggers pub has been closed, as can be seen by anybody who goes for a pint there.

While I have some reservations in that respect, I agree with Deputy Varadkar that money needs to be pumped into public transport. As time goes by we should look more towards this area. While there are mechanisms through which the private sector can finance projects, it needs to be done carefully because at present the involvement of the private sector in public private partnerships has been a cashcow for the private sector and has not been beneficial to the citizen. However, my main concern relates to section 12 which deals with resident parking. This section was amended in the Seanad but has not been referred to by previous speakers. The original section was introduced by the then Minister for Transport at the behest of residents associations in my constituency, particularly those near Croke Park such as the Iona and District Residents Association. They have conducted a long campaign to address traffic congestion in the inner city which worsens when major sports and entertainment events are held in Croke Park. Traditionally GAA matches are held in the stadium between the spring and autumn but international soccer and rugby matches are now being played there, while major concerts also take place throughout the year. Virtually all these events attract a capacity crowd of 82,500. A considerable number of one-storey and two-storey artisan dwellings are located in the area which becomes very congested. Life can be very difficult for local residents because of parking issues. They often become prisoners in their own homes which on occasion they cannot access. They find it almost impossible to park in the vicinity.

Section 12 provides for by-laws to be introduced to restrict parking around Croke Park at specific times during major sports and entertainment events. This is a desirable development which will make life relatively easier for residents on days when such events take place. The inner city, south and north, is inundated with cars when GAA matches take place in the stadium. When planning permission was granted for the expansion of Croke Park, a parking free zone with a one mile radius was proposed and the GAA undertook to locate a railway station beside the stadium following negotiations with Iarnrod Eireann in order that spectators could be brought directly to the stadium. This never happened, nor was the proposal in respect of a parking free zone ever implemented. The discussions at the time also referred to the construction of a series of car parks at the perimeter of the zone, which also did not happen.

When the by-laws are introduced to prohibit parking by spectators, park and ride facilities will be necessary because matchgoers should be provided with means to access the stadium. Park and ride facilities are vaguely referred to in Transport 21 but it contains no specific provisions for such facilities in the north or south inner city. A number of years ago my colleague, Deputy Shortall, proposed a number of park and ride sites along the M50 but nothing happened. Like everything else, the Government ploughs ahead with part of a project without seeing the overall picture. Park and ride facilities are non-existent for both commuters and matchgoers. This issue must be examined. When the new Lansdowne Road stadium comes on stream, the same issue will arise. Similar facilities will be required because local residents will seek the same exemptions under this legislation to apply in their area. One can imagine the pressure that will be exerted on local councillors to ensure their neighbourhood is not congested by cars every time a major match is held in the new stadium. This is a major issue which deserves to be teased out.

There is no template for the provision of residents only parking spaces in specified areas of Dublin. Since the Minister has no template, the legislation should be amended to provide for consultation with residents in order that local authorities would be obliged to put residents and residents associations in the picture rather than making unilateral decisions on the matter. Provision is made for notification of the drafting of by-laws but no provision is made for an egalitarian, consultative process between residents and the local authority as it carries out this work. The legislation should provide for such a structure to be put in place, otherwise we are going down the road with our eyes closed, as we are if we do not make provision for park and ride facilities to deal with spectators who are forced to park a long way from the stadia without access to public transport to get them to their destination.

Enforcement is another issue that needs to be examined. I attend residents association meetings and individuals outline instances of cars blocking their driveways for hours and green areas being damaged by SUVs and so on when matches are played in Croke Park. However, traffic laws are not enforced very much. Gardaí in Store Street, Fitzgibbon Street and Mountjoy stations are put to the pin of their collar to provide for the necessary policing of the event taking place in the stadium. As a result, other normal policing duties are not carried out. It will, therefore, be difficult for gardaí to check whether residents are affected by indiscriminate parking, unless specific mechanisms for the enforcement of parking regulations are provided or traffic wardens are deployed in the area.

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