Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

——with madcap proposals for congestion charges, road pricing and banning cars from a wide area of central Dublin. Traffic in Dublin and the greater Dublin area is on a constant knife edge and I welcome the provision that obliges the DTA to draw up and enforce a comprehensive traffic management plan and relevant guidelines following wide consultation with the local authorities and other stakeholders. However, there is an even more pressing reason a comprehensive and strictly enforced traffic management scheme is increasingly vital to the greater Dublin area. This is, of course, the proposed "big dig" for the metro north, the rail interconnector and the Luas link which, if not properly managed, could cause chaos and total gridlock in Dublin city centre. We are all extremely worried because the Minister is the man on the bridge. He is the man in charge of this potential traffic and socio-economic disaster. The last time I asked parliamentary questions in the House, the Minister had a hysterical reaction when I questioned him on the big dig.

The Labour Party has long been a strong supporter of fixed-rail projects, such as the metro north, the Luas link and the rail interconnector, and if I and my party had our way these projects would have been developed and delivered years ago for the people of the city and the greater Dublin and mid-Leinster region. Yet there is major concern that mismanagement of the big dig could devastate business life in the city and cause an unprecedented level of congestion. Earlier this week we heard the Dublin City Business Association making public its concerns that €2 billion per year could be lost to the Irish economy during the big dig. On behalf of the Labour Party, I will meet the Dublin Chamber of Commerce later this week to discuss the concerns of local business people.

The experience of Sheffield, which the Minister of State will remember as he and I were city councillors at the time, is a case in point. During the building of Sheffield's light rail system it was said that business life in the city centre was sterilised. Such an outcome must be avoided at all costs. I asked the Minister to clarify the impact of the big dig and what exactly will happen to the city. We recently had an avalanche of sensational newspaper reports about the destruction of St. Stephen's Green and the removal of much-loved Dublin monuments, such as the statues of Daniel O'Connell and Charles Stewart Parnell, and, indeed, although I do not think it is much loved, the removal of the Spire. The Minister must ensure a transparent process that keeps the public completely and absolutely informed of all developments and the full potential impact of the big dig as soon as possible. That is why I believe the Bill should contain references to the big dig. We should deal with it in the Bill and have provisions on how it is to be managed. I will table amendments in this regard on Committee Stage.

In the context of traffic management, I hope the Minister will finally address the ongoing issue of the current tolling regime on the M50. As the Minister knows, readers of the Evening Herald have been making their voices heard in their thousands on this issue. The M50 fiasco is simply one of the worst and most costly deals for Irish taxpayers that has ever been agreed in the history of the State, costing us at least €600 million in the next 15 or 20 years. Motorists believed that with the Government buy-out of the West Link bridge and the lifting of the barriers from next August, some relief was finally in sight, but instead they are being hit with a further price whammy and the prospect of ever-spiralling charges for using the motorway. There is a great danger that motorists will try to avoid using the M50 if at all possible once the new charges are introduced, with the result that there will be a large increase in the number of drivers rat-running through residential neighbourhoods, including those in the Minister of State's constituency and mine, and using the streets around the already clogged-up city centre. Motorists should be encouraged to use the M50 more rather than less when the big dig begins. Is this likely to happen with the imposition of higher toll charges in August?

The Minister must now step in and fully review the operation of the present tolling regime before barrier-free tolling begins to operate in August. The Minister previously discussed with me the proposals for and debates on congestion charges in New York and Sweden and the local referendums that were held on this issue. Surely citizens in Dublin and throughout Ireland should have similar democratic rights. I intend to propose that section 11 be amended to provide for local and regional referendums on all major traffic management issues. Let the Minister put the issue to the people of Meath, Dublin, Kildare, Louth and so on.

Part 5 of the Bill, which deals with land use provisions, is very timely and pertinent. The reprehensible failure to properly integrate transport needs with commercial and residential developments has been one of the worst and most shameful failures of Irish public policy in the past decades. Many high density developments were built without adequate transport links during the Celtic tiger years and citizens in new residential developments across Ireland have been left with an appallingly low level of public transport provision, if they have any at all, often for years on end. Development after development was sanctioned with little thought, provision or enforcement throughout the mid-Leinster and wider regions. In my constituency, as the Minister will remember, a proposal for a vast new urban centre on the north side was recently approved by the planning authority, Dublin City Council, which is a PPP partner of the developer. This will provide for the astonishing number of nearly 1,400 apartment units and duplexes, plus 76,000 sq. m of retail space, in an area of Coolock that is already poorly served by public transport.

What is missing in this proposal? No fixed-line transport system is planned, despite the fact that a north side Luas from Donaghmede to Ballymun and the airport was part of the DTO's 2016 plan which was laid out eight years ago. In another part of my constituency, the famous north fringe, we have been waiting for a new DART station for the past six or seven years but it has been put off until mid-2009.

The Bill before us contains a series of valuable amendments to the Planning and Development Act 2000, which are intended to ensure consistency between the authority's strategy and the various plans and guidelines produced by local and regional planning authorities in the greater Dublin area. It appears, however, that county and local development plans will not have to obtain binding DTA approval in the absence of ministerial intervention under section 92. I understand the distinguished Professor Margaret O'Mahony of Trinity College, the first head of the DTA establishment team, left the organisation because of the failure of the Government, particularly the former Minister, Deputy Cullen, to ensure that every local authority in the greater Dublin area was obliged to obtain DTA approval for all development plans to make sure they contained fully integrated transport plans. I will submit amendments on this issue on Committee Stage.

Chapter 3 of Part 5 provides for vital integration measures, including the sharing of ticketing systems, stops, stations and other infrastructure. Fully integrated ticketing should have been operational by 2005. Instead the completion date was pushed back to 2010 and then to 2013. During this period the cost of integrated ticketing has also skyrocketed from the original figure of €29.6 million to at least €50 million. The outgoing Comptroller and Auditor General, Mr. John Purcell, issued a damning report that strongly criticised the management of the integrated ticketing project. All this goes back to the fact that the Government failed to set up the Dublin Transport Authority in a timely manner. I was reasonably heartened by a recent briefing given to the Joint Committee on Transport by the newly established integrated ticketing project board. It is hoped we are finally on track to have an integrated ticketing system in two years' time.

One of the most critical factors in the failure to roll out integrated ticketing, as I mentioned, was the absence of an overarching organisation such as the DTA, which is absolutely essential to drive through all the integrated aspects of a modern transport system for Dublin. Further integration measures proposed in Chapter 3 include an integrated public transport information system. The legislation should mandate the DTA to drive the roll-out of a real-time integrated public transport information system. The Minister of State may remember talking about this in 1991 in Dublin City Council and on the traffic committee with Dublin Bus. There was talk of the possibility of showing bus information in real time on bus stops. Here we are, 16 years later, and what have we got?

The Minister, Deputy Dempsey, spoke extensively about the development by the DTA of a single public transport brand for the greater Dublin area and provision is made for that under section 57. I welcome that but I would like a lot more information on it. For example, how much will the rebranding exercise cost and will all transport providers, including public and private operators and rail, light rail and bus services, be included? As expected, part 6 of the Bill provides for the dissolution of the Dublin Transportation Office and its incorporation into the new DTA. I pay tribute to the work of the DTO, led by Mr. John Henry, the CEO, and Mr. Willie Soffe, the chairperson of the steering committee, a former Fingal County Manager who was also the transport manager of Dublin City Council for many years. I pay tribute to the team on their work in recent years. Although the DTO had a limited remit, the organisation has contributed significantly to developing and advancing transport policy in the greater Dublin area over the years. I hope this good work will continue, especially as regards the development of long-term transport strategy. I welcome the Bill's references to research and the provision of information.

I welcome the decision by the Minister to re-establish a Dublin transport authority and to publish this legislation. The tenor of much of my speech may sound critical to the ears of the Ministers of State and the Minister, but the Labour Party and I are committed to developing and delivering a strong and sustainable transport network, with accessible public transport for all commuters in the greater Dublin area and across the country at its heart. Given this legislation's long and difficult gestation, it could have been better and more comprehensive and democratic. I intend to introduce a series of amendments on behalf of the Labour Party on Committee Stage to address the gaps and deficiencies I have outlined. I hope the Minister of State will respond positively.

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