Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The Bill passed all Stages in the Seanad with, it is fair to say, support from across the board for the intent of the legislation, if not for every last detail. The Seanad debate resulted in a number of amendments to the Bill as initiated, several of which were due to the intervention of the Opposition, which I believe have resulted in improvements to the relevant provisions. I look forward to the debate in this House and I am prepared to listen to any reasonable suggestions for further improvements to the Bill.

The greater Dublin area, GDA, is the most densely populated and traffic-congested region within the State. It comprises seven local authorities, namely Dublin city, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal, south Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. It has an area of just under 7,000 sq. km and in 2006 had a population of 1.66 million people or almost 40% of the State's total population. This represents an increase of more than a quarter of a million people in the ten years from 1996 to 2006. During the same period, the number of people travelling to work each day in the area also increased by a quarter of a million or by more than 50%. The people of this area and its business community require a transport system that is integrated, efficient, effective and sustainable. The provision of such a system is the mandate the Government intends to give to the Dublin transport authority.

The new authority will have overall responsibility for surface transport in the greater Dublin area, subject to direction by the Government in respect of significant policy issues. I will outline the main policy priorities for the authority. It will work with the regional and local authorities to ensure a better alignment of transport and land use planning processes. It will be charged with ensuring the effective integration of public transport infrastructure and services. It will be responsible for the timely and cost-effective implementation of the public transport infrastructure projects for the greater Dublin area in the ten-year Transport 21 capital investment framework. It will procure the provision of public transport services in a manner that optimises the benefits arising from the almost doubling of capacity on the public transport system under Transport 21. Finally, but not least, it will be asked to work towards the achievement of a sustainable transport system for the greater Dublin area.

In order to deliver effectively on such policy objectives, the authority will be given a wide range of functions covering strategic transport planning, the procurement of public transport infrastructure and services, the promotion of cycling and walking, integration and traffic and demand management.

The authority will draw up a strategic framework for the delivery of infrastructure and services in a strategic transport plan covering a 12 to 20-year period, much as did the Dublin Transportation Office's strategy, A Platform for Change. To ensure this plan is put into action, the authority will produce six-yearly integrated implementation plans focusing on the projects and services to be introduced during the period of each plan and on how the integration of such projects and services with each other and with existing services is to be achieved. Both the strategic transport plan and the implementation plan will be subject to a wide-ranging consultation process. Each plan will be subject to ministerial approval as part of a wide range of measures to ensure the authority will be properly accountable.

The authority will procure public transport services, which are subject to public service obligations, in a manner that is consistent with the provisions of EU law. This will enable the authority to ensure the integration of services and will provide a new framework to hold service providers to account for the quality of services provided to the public. It will regulate public transport fares and will have powers to ensure the delivery of integrated ticketing and fares and public transport information schemes. It will promote cycling and walking as a sustainable alternative to motorised transport. The work of the authority in this regard will take into account the Government's action plan on sustainable travel and transport, which will be published later this year, and, in particular, the national cycling plan on which the Department is working at present.

The authority will also prepare a strategic traffic management plan for the region to ensure a consistent approach across all local authority areas, including during construction works for major infrastructure projects.

One of the key drivers in preparing this legislation was the need to more closely align transport and land use planning in the GDA. Achieving greater integration of transport and land use planning will be central to the success of the authority in carrying out its mandate. The Minister worked closely with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and his officials on drafting the relevant provisions in the Bill. The objective was to ensure a more sustainable and integrated approach to land use and transport in the greater Dublin area through maximising consistency between regional planning guidelines, local authority development plans and local area plans, and the authority's transport strategy. That can only be achieved if a balance is struck that ensures transport considerations are fully addressed as part of land use planning while respecting the existing democratic accountability of the planning process.

The proposals seek to give an equitable share of responsibilities to the regional and local planning authorities on the one hand, to participate in the development of the transport strategy and implementation plan, and to the DTA, on the other hand, to take an active part in the formulation of the regional, county and local planning processes.

A series of technical amendments are proposed to the Planning and Development Act 2000 to allow the Dublin transport authority make key inputs at every stage of the preparation and review of regional planning guidelines for the greater Dublin area, thereby ensuring that they are closely aligned with the authority's transport strategy. A balancing provision allows the regional authorities to influence the content of the authority's transport strategy to make sure that it is consistent with the regional planning guidelines. Similar arrangements will apply to ensure local authority development plans and local area plans will be consistent with the authority's strategic transport plan.

Additional powers will also be given to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to intervene, if required, to ensure that regional planning guidelines, development plans and local area plans are consistent with the transport strategy prepared for the greater Dublin area by the Dublin transport authority. A similar power is given to the Minister for Transport to intervene, if required, to ensure that the transport strategy is consistent with regional planning policies.

Additionally, developers of classes of development prescribed by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government after consultation with the authority, will be required to submit transport impact assessments as part of the planning process. Such impact assessments will require developers to demonstrate how their proposals are consistent with the authority's transport strategy. Planning authorities will be required to satisfy themselves that is the case before granting permission. The Bill also introduces a new, non-compensatable reason for the refusal of planning permission, namely that the proposed development would not be consistent with the authority's transport strategy.

These proposals will provide workable and effective arrangements to better integrate transport and land use planning to ensure the full benefits of a more accessible city and hinterland envisioned under Transport 21 are realised for people living and working in the greater Dublin area.

A major objective of this legislation is the delivery of an integrated transport network. This will be achieved in a number of ways. The authority will have overall responsibility for procuring public transport services and will be able to use its detailed powers in this area to ensure that bus, rail, metro and Luas services are properly integrated in the future. The authority will implement a single public transport brand, something akin to the Transport for London brand springs to mind, but it will be left to the authority to decide the optimal branding and how it should be introduced. The authority will take over direct responsibility for the introduction of integrated ticketing, building on the work already undertaken by the Railway Procurement Agency and overseen by the integrated ticketing project board. The authority will also have responsibility for introducing an integrated fares system and the development of an integrated information system, providing a single, integrated source of travel planning information for public transport users. Its infrastructure powers will enable it to ensure the delivery of public transport interchange and park and ride facilities.

The Government is committed to a radical improvement of public transport services in the GDA. Moreover, it is wholeheartedly committed to obtaining the best value for the travelling public and the taxpayer from the significant subvention being provided by the Exchequer for public transport services in the GDA.

The Bill provides for the use of performance-based public service contracts for bus and rail public transport services in the greater Dublin area. The contracts will set out clearly the services being provided and the payments to support those services. These provisions are in line with the new regime introduced under the EU regulation on public service obligations in the transport sector, which becomes mandatory from next year.

The programme for Government includes a commitment to improving bus services under Transport 21 by reforming the bus licensing provisions of the Road Transport Act 1932 to facilitate the optimum provision of services. It is the Minister's intention that proposals for a new bus licensing regime will follow in subsequent legislative proposals. The new licensing regime will be designed in a manner consistent with the new EU regulation. In the meantime, applications for new bus licences and notifications from State bus operators will continue to be processed under the licensing provisions of the Road Transport Act 1932 and the notification system under the Transport Act 1958.

The Bill includes strong provisions, modelled on the powers that have been so successfully used by the National Roads Authority, NRA, regarding the provision of public transport infrastructure. The powers of the authority set out in the legislation can be summarised as follows. The authority will have responsibility for the allocation of Exchequer funds for public transport infrastructure projects in the GDA. However, as is the case with the NRA, the DTA will act in accordance with the investment priorities set out by Government in Transport 21 and the national development plan. The authority will be required to endeavour to deliver public transport infrastructure projects through existing agencies in the first instance. However, if it considers it more convenient, expeditious, effective or economical to do so, it can deliver a project itself. The authority can issue a direction to a transport agency requiring it to deliver or take a particular action in delivering a project. Should the transport agency refuse, the DTA can step in and take over the project itself.

Following his appointment as Minister for Transport in June 2007, Deputy Noel Dempsey decided to initiate a review of the draft legislation having regard to the commitments in the agreed programme for Government and also the length of time that had passed since the Dublin transport authority establishment team had completed its report. One of that report's recommendations was that the Railway Procurement Agency, RPA, be absorbed into the new authority. In the intervening period the RPA has made major progress on the important projects assigned to it under Transport 21, particularly the procurement of metro north. In the circumstances the Minister became concerned that the absorption of the RPA by the authority could jeopardise the ongoing public private partnership procurement process in respect of metro north, which is at a critical and sensitive juncture — tender documents were issued to the four bidding consortia just last week. For that reason, it has been decided to leave the RPA outside the authority. The benefits of providing organisational continuity in respect of the metro north procurement process far outweigh any other benefits that could have accrued from pursuing other options regarding the relationship between the RPA and the authority.

While mentioning the metro north project, I wish to point out an amendment to the Bill that was introduced on Committee Stage in the Seanad regarding St. Stephen's Green. The provision of metro north, as well as the DART interconnector, will have an impact on St. Stephen's Green. Section 15 of the Saint Stephen's Green (Dublin) Act 1877 requires that the green shall be maintained as a park for the recreation of the public and for no other purpose. The advice of the Attorney General was that a provision was required to overcome this restriction and facilitate the provision of the railways concerned. Consequently, section 114 of the Bill provides powers for the transport agencies to carry out surveys and inspections in advance of railway works, to carry out the works authorised by a railway order and, in the longer term, to operate a railway under St. Stephen's Green. The provision was drafted in consultation with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, who has statutory responsibility for the green, and care has been taken to ensure that the Minister's powers of consent under the National Monuments Acts with regard to the green remain unaffected.

Irish Rail and the RPA have worked closely together in designing the stations for both the interconnector and the metro north within the constraints agreed with the Office of Public Works and in consultation with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin City Council and other key stakeholders. In addition, Dublin City Council is developing a traffic management strategy to minimise the disruption caused to traffic by works at St. Stephen's Green. To protect the sensitive heritage and environmental aspects of this area, specialists including conservation architects, archaeologists and arboriculturists are currently being taken on by the RPA to advise on these significant matters. Before any work is carried out, detailed surveys, reports and photographic records will be commissioned and agreed with the OPW. A detailed landscaping plan to reinstate the green will also be agreed with the OPW.

Mr. Tom Mulcahy has been appointed chairperson of the interim Dublin Transport Authority and will relinquish his position as chairperson of the Railway Procurement Agency in due course. Additional members will be appointed shortly to the interim authority. Its remit will be to prepare the ground for the establishment of the new authority. A competition to find a suitable chief executive designate will be undertaken. Once the chief executive designate is in place, the interim authority will be able to consider the staffing and financial requirements of the authority, initiate the recruitment of staff, source office accommodation and put in place the necessary support systems with a view to ensuring the authority is in a position to start work straight away when established.

I propose to outline the main provisions of the Bill. As this is a lengthy Bill, I will highlight only the main provisions of each part. Part 1 deals with preliminary and general matters and concerns certain standard legislative provisions such as definitions and commencement provisions. Part 2 concerns the establishment of the Dublin Transport Authority and the governance arrangements under which it will operate. Chapter 1 of Part 2 concerns arrangements for the establishment of the authority. Sections 10 and 11 set out the general objectives to be pursued by the authority and its principal functions. To highlight the importance of cycling and walking in the wider transport picture, an additional function of promoting increased recourse to cycling and walking was added to the authority's functions by amendment in the Seanad.

Under section 12, the authority is required to prepare a transport strategy identifying the strategic transport requirements for the greater Dublin area over a 12 to 20 year timeframe. The authority will inherit the work currently being undertaken by the Dublin Transportation Office on the development of a transport strategy for the greater Dublin area for the period 2010-30 to succeed A Platform for Change. A public consultation on the development of that strategy was initiated last Monday. The authority is required under section 13 to prepare a six-year integrated implementation plan setting out the priorities, actions and objectives of the authority with regard to the provision of public transport infrastructure and services. This plan is designed to translate strategy into action.

Chapter 2 of Part 2 sets out the structure and governance arrangements of the authority. Under section 14, the authority will comprise ten members appointed by the Minister, three of whom will be executive directors — the chief executive officer and two senior managers. The Dublin City Manager will be appointed in an ex-officio capacity. The remaining six non-executive part-time members must be people with relevant experience. The report of the establishment team recommended the use of an independent nomination panel to recommend to the Minister persons for appointment to the authority. However, the Minister is firmly of the view that given the large amount of taxpayers' money being allocated to the authority, there should be strong accountability by the authority to the Minister of the day and to Government and that such accountability is best achieved by direct selection and appointment of the board by the Minister.

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