Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The authority will be charged with carrying out all of the DTA's statutory functions. Section 17 provides for the appointment by the Minister of a 13-member advisory council which will scrutinise the work of the authority. Membership of the advisory council will comprise the Dublin City Manager, two county managers from the GDA or officers nominated by them, four elected members of the Dublin and mid-east regional authorities, a member of the Garda Síochána and four ordinary members nominated by representative organisations.

Chapter 2 of Part 2 incorporates important provisions concerning the duty of the authority to implement Government policy and its accountability to the Minister, the Government and the Oireachtas. The Minister will have the power to issue policy directions and guidelines to the authority regarding any of its functions. Compliance with policy directions will be mandatory. In addition, under section 41 there is a statutory obligation on the chairperson and chief executive to appear before Oireachtas committees. The authority's accounts will be subject to annual audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, following which an annual report must be submitted to the Minister. In addition to moneys granted to the authority through the Department of Transport, it will also be permitted to borrow up to an aggregate limit of €1 billion and those borrowings may be guaranteed by the Minister for Finance subject to appropriate terms and conditions.

Section 40 of the Bill contains standard provisions precluding Members of either House of the Oireachtas or the European Parliament from becoming members of the authority. As originally drafted, this exclusion also applied to local authority members. Following debate on Committee Stage in the Seanad, however, the provisions regarding non-eligibility of local authority members were removed. As Deputies are aware, a Green Paper on local government has been published, in respect of which a consultation process is underway. One of the proposals put forward for consideration is the creation of the position of a directly elected regional mayor for Dublin, who would also become the chairperson of the DTA. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government hopes to finalise work on a White Paper by the end of the year after considering the views expressed during consultation. We will work closely with him to give effect to Government policy as set out in the White Paper.

Part 3 comprises six chapters dealing with transport infrastructure and services. Chapter 1 sets out the functions of the authority with regard to the provision of public transport infrastructure. It is being given responsibility for the procurement of public transport infrastructure. However, in the normal course of events the authority will procure infrastructure through the existing statutory agencies — Irish Rail for suburban rail and the Railway Procurement Agency for light rail and metro. The authority will also allocate capital funding to these bodies or agencies. If the authority considers it necessary, however, it can step in and take over projects itself. Its powers in this regard have been modelled on those of the NRA with regard to road projects.

Chapter 2 establishes a comprehensive framework that will give the authority the power to secure the provision of public passenger transport services through the use of public transport service contracts. Procurement will be carried out by the authority's entering into public transport service contracts, the general framework for which is set out in sections 48, 49 and 50. In the case of public bus and rail passenger services, as distinct from metro and light rail services, contracts will only be entered into where there is a public service obligation, PSO, identified by the authority. Such contracts must comply with EU law, particularly EU Regulation 1370/2007, which establishes a new framework for PSO contracts for bus and rail passenger services and comes into effect from 3 December 2009. This chapter has been prepared so that it is in line with the regulation. The Office of the Attorney General has been directly involved in the preparation of the chapter to ensure we are in full compliance with our EU obligations, particularly in the area of State aid.

The specific structure adopted in respect of the making of direct award contracts with the CIE companies, which is set out in section 52, has been prepared with particular reference to the regulation. The section establishes the basis for the continued provision of current bus services provided by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann in the greater Dublin area and for the ongoing operation by Irish Rail of rail services in the area. The two bus companies are being granted exclusive rights to continue providing their current services, subject to the grant of licences for commercial services to private bus operators under the Road Transport Act 1932. The authority will enter into direct award contracts with the companies in respect of those services. The initial direct award contracts provided for under this section will last five years in the case of the public bus passenger services and ten years for rail passenger services. Subsequent direct award contracts can be made and the authority is being given powers to review the contracts within their allotted life span.

In the case of public bus passenger services, the chapter provides support for the continued provision of the subvented services being provided by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann in the greater Dublin area in the first instance. It also provides that any growth in the market for subvented services will be addressed by way of public service contracts that will be granted following open tendering, allowing Dublin Bus or Bus Éireann and private operators to tender for the operation of those services. We will address the many other sections in due time.

The establishment of the new authority will streamline and strengthen the decision-making process in respect of the planning and provision of sustainable and integrated transport services and infrastructure in the greater Dublin area. The strengthening of the interaction between land use planning and transport will further assist in ensuring the sustainable growth of the area and will lead to an enhanced quality of life for all who live and work therein. The new authority will have a clear mandate and the necessary powers to deliver on it, but it will be fully accountable to the Minister for Transport and the House. I commend the Bill to the House.

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