Michael Kennedy (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Local Government (Roads Functions) Bill. There are many advantages to the proposal to transfer responsibility for non-national roads and for the national vehicle and driver file, from the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, to the Minister for Transport. There is no rationale for continuing to have two Departments and two Ministers dealing with issues involving the road network. The transfer of powers will bring greater efficiency, there will be a reduction in costs and our citizens and road users will receive an improved service from local authorities.

There are many advantages with regard to national roads and as the Minister for Transport is responsible for national roads this will benefit everyone. I welcome the fact that the Government will continue to provide sufficient funding and we know that more than €600 million is promised for next year. That is a significant amount and while we all have roads in our constituencies that need upgrading and maintenance substantial progress has been made throughout the country, not just in my constituency of Dublin North. The Minister has given an assurance that this funding will not be affected by the transfer of responsibility from one Department to another.

There are challenges such as new housing estates and this is particularly the case in my constituency of Dublin North where fine new roads exist on estates but roads can be more like boreens outside them. This issue must be addressed and the challenge facing the Department is to ensure we do not have brilliant roads for a couple of hundred metres in an estate and substandard roads outside the estate. I feel the Government is prepared for this challenge.

The extent to which the National Roads Authority can be held accountable is a problem and I know many Members have mentioned that it does not seem to respond to parliamentary questions and so on. This issue must be addressed because if we, as public representatives, are to do our jobs properly we must be able to get answers and find out what is being done and when it will be done. Other speakers also referred to long-term planning and, as someone with experience in local authorities who knows county councils are trying to formulate three and five year programmes, I feel we owe it to local authorities to let them know the funding they will receive over a five or ten year period. This would facilitate local authorities and the Department in co-operating on the delivery of roads of a high standard for everyone.

We should acknowledge that major work has been done in the past five or six years such as the M1 motorway that runs through my constituency to the Border. It is a fantastic road and the new N2 through Ashbourne to Derry is a major benefit to motorists. I feel that combining the functions of non-national roads with those of national roads will lead to greater efficiency and safety.

There are many advantages to having the national vehicle and driver file, NVDF, under the auspices of the Department of Transport. There are 2.4 million registered vehicles in the country and 2.5 million drivers on a computerised system for which the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government had responsibility. This system is useful because it allows updates on a real time basis. The issue of unregistered drivers and vehicles, as mentioned by my colleague Deputy Cyprian Brady, is serious and affects every town and village in the country. Comments from other citizens suggest that these vehicles are not insured and that the drivers do not have licences and this is something the Department must tackle quickly. Sooner or later there will be a serious accident and ordinary, law-abiding motorists will pay through higher insurance premiums. The NVDF is important in the management of our national motor tax and driving licence systems and it has played a key role in bringing about proper driver regulation and in supporting critical road safety standards. I feel that it is a step forward for the Department of Transport to be responsible for all matters relating to road vehicles.

There are challenges and I feel that the data on penalty points on national vehicle and driver file is one such. One hears stories of points not being recorded and it is incumbent on us to ensure that all who incur penalty points have them endorsed on their licences. This applies equally to non-nationals who are currently not penalised.

Dublin North has benefited significantly from investment in roads and it is the fastest growing constituency in the country, if not Europe. The county council is planning to confer city status on our county town of Swords in the next 15 to 20 years as its population grows to 100,000. Having two Departments deal with transport-related issues is not the way forward and I think combining functions under the Department of Transport is a progressive step.

Reference has been made to railway orders and the metro will come to Swords via Dublin Airport in 2013. The Department of Transport is responsible for delivery of the metro service so I feel it is essential that all issues involving railway orders be addressed by that Department. The DART is to be extended from Malahide to Balbriggan and the same problems will arise in that case.

Yesterday I read an English report on rural roads and they have similar problems with boy racers making rural roads unsafe for law-abiding citizens to walk or cycle on. It is critical that we deal with the standard of rural roads here because if we want proper safety we need proper surfacing and signage. I believe that it is far more satisfactory that a single agency deals with this.

Nobody seems to take responsibility for the provision of park and ride services and, with regard to traffic congestion in the city, it is vital the Department of Transport takes responsibility for the provision of such facilities. The Department could work with local authorities on this because at the moment I do not believe the issue is being addressed by any Department. If one Department is to be responsible for all aspects of transportation it is essential that responsibility for the provision of park and ride services be brought under the umbrella of the Department of Transport.

I commend this Bill to the House.

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