Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)

The purpose of this Bill is to provide for the transfer of functions relating to non-national roads and the national vehicle and driver file from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to the Department of Transport. I am concerned about the implications of this transfer. Will the Department of Transport be able to deal with its new responsibilities? Will it fund non-national roads in the same manner as the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government did? Some years ago the Government gave responsibility for national primary and secondary routes to the NRA but it is difficult to get a response from the NRA, which has no responsibility to local or national representatives. I oppose this further erosion of the powers of local government. Will we have any say in where this money will be spent? Local authorities will hand over responsibility for all roads to the Department of Transport but what will happen in the Gaeltacht and CLÁR areas where the Minister seems to have personal choice in the allocation of money for minor roads? There is no provision in Transport 21 for the maintenance or upgrading of national roads. Where will the money come from?

Up to 25% of drivers who incurred penalty points did not receive them because they did not hold Irish driving licences. Many of them hold British or European registration plates and can give two fingers to gardaí.

I recently read a report in a national newspaper about 1,351 written-off vehicles on the NVDF which were already back on the road. Has the Department of Transport concluded its investigation of this matter and will the findings be made public? It is estimated that 100,000 vehicles on the road are not insured. Do drivers of foreign registered cars without insurance get away scot free? Taking powers from the local authorities and transferring them to a Department which is hardly able to run itself is a step in the wrong direction.

See this speech in context