Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

Last week at the Committee of Public Accounts, the Dublin city manager, Mr. John Tierney, seemed to refer to imminent congestion charges with regard to the big dig for the development of the Luas and metro. Has the Minister received any firm proposal from the city manager or Dr. John Lynch of CIE, who referred to congestion charges in the past? I note the Chairman of the Joint Committee on Transport, Deputy Frank Fahey, was reported in The Sunday Business Post as being, with the Government, in favour of introducing congestion charges at an early date.

The Minister referred to London and Stockholm. Milan, Singapore and Manhattan in New York are also heading in the same direction. The one factor all these cities have which Dublin does not have is a multifaceted public transport system. Surely it is pointless to discuss congestion charges given the huge deficit in public transport under Transport 21.

Have long-range costings been made by the Department with regard to congestion charges or the carbon emissions that could be avoided? If there were to be charges, is it an ambition of the Government to make them self-financing? Will this be a cornerstone of any charge?

The Minister stated there would be consultation on this matter. When will it begin and who will be involved? In Edinburgh and Stockholm the people were asked by referendum whether they wanted a congestion charge. In Stockholm, the city area said "yes" but all the suburbs said "no", and the Swedish Government went ahead. Edinburgh said "no". Will people in Dublin or elsewhere be consulted when congestion charges or other road levies are proposed?

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