Noel Dempsey (Meath West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the pre-budget outlook. The Department of Transport Vote will provide for all capital expenditure on roads, public transport, maritime transport and regional airports.

Of this amount, more than €1.5 billion is allocated for national roads investment. This will allow the pace and momentum achieved in the national roads programme to continue. In particular, it will provide for the continued on-schedule delivery of the major inter-urban routes linking the country's main regional cities to Dublin, as well as important progress on other key national routes. This level of funding means progress will continue in 2008 with the completion of the Kilbeggan-Athlone scheme on the N6 and the Carlow bypass on the N9. Further progress will be made on the N6 Galway to Ballinasloe and Athlone to Ballinasloe scheme, the N7 Nenagh to Limerick scheme, the Limerick tunnel, the M7-M8 Portlaoise to Culahill-Castletown route, the N8 Cashel to Mitchelstown and Culahill to Cashel scheme, and the N9 Waterford to Knocktopher route. More than 70% of major inter-urban routes are either open to traffic or at construction, and all projects have completed statutory procedures.

On the M50, work will be completed on phases one and three of the upgrade project, and work will advance on phase two during 2008. Barrier-free tolling will also be introduced in 2008. This, together with the increased capacity brought about by the ongoing upgrade, should mean road users begin to see an improved service on the M50 during the year. The entire project is very much on target for full completion by 2010 and should deliver a 50% increase in capacity, leading to reduced traffic congestion as traffic flows more freely at higher average speeds.

Other major schemes that will be brought to completion will include the N4 Dromod-Rooskey scheme and the N51 Navan inner relief road. Work will continue on the M3 Clonee to north of Kells scheme and the N25 Waterford city bypass. Schemes that will commence during 2008 include the N7 Newlands Cross, N7 Castletown to Nenagh, N8 Mitchelstown to Fermoy, N9 Carlow to Knocktopher and N9 Kilcullen to Carlow.

Overall, the National Roads Authority, NRA, is overseeing the construction of 23 national roads projects, 21 of which are due to finish on or ahead of time. An example of the exceptional delivery now being achieved by the NRA is that of the five major road projects completed so far in 2007, all have come in on budget and on or ahead of time. For example, the N6 Tyrellspass to Kilbeggan scheme opened in May 2007 on budget and six months ahead of schedule. With more than €7 billion invested in national roads since 2002, long-standing bottlenecks have been eliminated, including in Kildare, Monasterevin, Ennis, Cashel, Loughrea and Drogheda, thus delivering substantial journey time savings and greater journey time certainty.

With regard to public transport, there will be continued progress on expanding the Luas network. Construction work will continue on the Cherrywood and Docklands extensions, while construction work will commence, subject to the granting of a railway order by An Bord Pleanála, on the Citywest extension. Public consultation and planning work will continue on the planned Luas lines to Lucan, Liffey Junction and the Bray area. Capacity enhancements will also be advanced on the two existing Luas lines.

Planning and design work and the procurement process will continue on metro north. Under Transport 21, metro north will be delivered through the public private partnership funding model. In 2008, the focus will be on progressing work on planning, design and contracts, and this is reflected in the 2008 Estimates. Public consultation and design and planning work will continue on metro west.

On heavy rail, the Portlaoise train care depot will be completed, construction work will continue on the Kildare route project and phase one of the western rail corridor, and will begin on the Cork-Midleton rail line. The railway safety programme will continue with safety improvements on the Iarnród Éireann network. The gradual introduction of the 183 railcars that will transform the inter-city service will continue. Planning and design work will continue on the Navan rail line and detailed design work will begin on the interconnector. There will also be significant work done on preparing for greater electrification of the greater Dublin rail network.

Bus capacity will continue to be enhanced with the introduction by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann of additional buses to their fleets. Further bus priority measures will be introduced with an expansion of the quality bus corridor network in Dublin and the introduction of new measures in other cities. The 2008 existing level of service, ELS, allocation will also provide for a continuation of public transport accessibility improvements in accordance with the Department's sectoral plan under the Disability Act 2005.

More than €28 million is being provided for the regional airports. This includes funding for the annual subvention of operational expenditure on core airport services and continued support for essential air links between these airports and the Dublin Airport international gateway. It will also facilitate further progress on the roll-out of the €86 million multiannual capital grant programme for these airports, which was approved by the Government under the Transport 21 framework earlier this year. This programme aims to enhance safety and security standards at the regional airports and to assist them in providing the infrastructure necessary to cater for projected growth in the sector.

The maritime sector will be in receipt of more than €47 million in 2008. The Irish Coast Guard and maritime safety sector will receive the bulk of this sum, some €43 million. This funding will ensure the continuation of vital work related to the Irish Coast Guard and maritime safety generally. The Irish Coast Guard has responsibility for search and rescue in addition to marine pollution and salvage response. The 2008 capital funding provides for the continued investment in the station house building programme in addition to providing for the upgrading and expansion of the Irish Coast Guard's radio communications network.

One of the key aspects of the maritime safety function is accident prevention through an appropriate combination of regulation, heightening of safety awareness, and enforcement. The 2008 pre-budget Estimates will continue to provide for a grant to the Commissioners of Irish Lights and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.

The Department will also continue to fund works that aim to protect the fabric of our regional harbours. The resources available have been concentrated on essential remedial works pending the transfer of the harbours to local control. The 2008 amount will provide continued funding at several regional harbours.

The Transport 21 infrastructural investment programme for 2006 to 2015 is delivering significant progress. Investment will be €34.4 billion in the lifetime of the programme, which provides for €26 billion in Exchequer funding, with the balance to be delivered by means of public private partnerships and toll-based financing. This continued level of heightened investment, as supported by the 2008 pre-budget Estimates, demonstrates our commitment to the ongoing transformation of our national road network and public transport infrastructure. The high-quality transport network being put in place is contributing significantly to supporting our national competitiveness and job creation and to the achievement of more balanced regional development. It will also deliver a positive road safety dividend as upgraded roads, particularly motorway or dual carriageway standard roads, provide a much safer driving environment.

The Road Safety Authority, RSA, has also developed a new road safety strategy. This is Ireland's third road safety strategy and it runs for a six-year period from 2007 to 2012. The strategy outlines the strategic approach to be taken for achieving a safer environment on Ireland's roads. Its primary aim is to reduce collisions, deaths and injuries the roads by 30%. This new strategy was approved by the Cabinet on 16 October 2007 and will be launched by the Taoiseach, myself and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform tomorrow. The pre-budget outlook has seen continued investment in road safety to ensure the continued success of efforts to reduce drink driving. We are providing an extra €1.8 million for the Medical Bureau of Road Safety to help meet an increased workload arising from new mandatory alcohol testing.

Apart from these increases, current funding on an existing level of service basis will continue to fund the important work of the Road Safety Authority, which reduced driver test waiting lists in 2007 from a national average of 33 weeks to 20 weeks and will strive during 2008 to arrive at a target six week waiting time nationally, in addition to continuing to deliver on road safety. The expansion of the rural transport programme in the second part of 2007 is on course to provide 1 million passenger journeys in 2007, an increase of approximately 25% on 2006. The allocation in 2008 will support this expansion and maintain coverage levels already achieved to date. I commend the pre-budget Estimates to the House, particularly the transport Estimate.

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