Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

In the course of the day I also used the No. 11 and No. 59 buses. I am immensely grateful. I intend to continue to use public transport. It is not only just one party in this House that uses public transport and bicycles at ministerial level. I do not promise to use the bicycle much, although I have one at home in Tipperary, but I intend to go on using public transport to a considerable extent because it is an efficient method of transport. One wastes less time because one can read easily on it, assuming that one is not catching a train where one has to stand in cramped conditions. I appreciate that one of the bottlenecks is on the northern services. I have seen that at stations. People may be standing even before the train has left the first stop on the way from Pearse station to Dundalk. I appreciate that much more needs to be done to try to sort out that bottleneck.

I am immensely grateful to those who drive me. I have no ideological hang-ups about public service. I like the notion of public service. I am not, in general principle, in any way against unions but I appreciate that private enterprise can add something of value. Something can appear very simple if one represents a constituency in south Dublin, regardless of party I hasten to add, but these are matters to be solved within the framework available to solve them, namely, social partnership negotiations. There is a degree of flexibility in that regard. I accept that more choice and competition is needed but that must be negotiated, it cannot simply be imposed.

A major problem, both in the greater Dublin area and far removed from the greater Dublin area, is the issue of parking for public transport. When I am in Dublin, if I want to get the Luas, which means that all I would have to do is cross St. Stephen's Green to my new office, I would have to reach the Stillorgan or Sandyford car parks by 8.30 a.m. at the latest because even though there are approximately 600 places, they will all be occupied by 8.30 a.m. or 8.45 a.m.

Many provincial railway stations, including Thurles and Limerick Junction, are increasingly difficult to park in unless one arrives for an early service. There are suburban stations throughout Dublin to which every approach road is filled with cars parked on and off the pavement. If we want more people to use public transport they must be able, in one shape or another, to park and ride, but in many places we are reaching the limits of our capacity.

One should not neglect the fact that transport links can play a major role in reviving somewhat neglected or run-down areas. They can give a major boost in that regard. The Luas has done that to a degree in areas like Smithfield and other areas in north Dublin. The metro north will have an important role in connecting key areas, including hospitals and DCU. I have some regret — Deputy O'Dowd might have a view on it — that it will merely go to Swords and Lissenhall and will not connect to the North-South railway line. Even with the facilities now being provided by, among others, Aer Lingus in Aldergrove and so on, we totally underestimate the extent to which Dublin Airport in particular is used by people from the North. That is something that may need to be further examined, but one can take these things in stages.

There has been fierce vested interest opposition to the metro to the airport. There is no doubt that large sums of money are collected by airport operators and those who might aspire to run terminals from parking fees. We have seen how the chairman of Ryanair has regularly attempted to rubbish the metro north project, although one wonders how he would fare at his main hub in Stansted if there was not the rail link to London.

The metro is very expensive, I would almost say frighteningly expensive, and much of that expense has to do with land acquisition, not just the cost of building lines and operations. That is the reason, for example, for the cost of a line, which is not much longer, from Cork to Midleton where the rights of way were preserved, although the cost is nothing like that of the metro, even on the overland stretch.

Integrated ticketing is long overdue. It operates in most other cities. One reason for the delay in its introduction is concern about guaranteeing revenue flows for the individual operators and that that will not get interrupted.

I noticed that everyone has steered clear so far in this debate — perhaps I have not heard all the contributions — of what one might call the campaign being run by the Evening Herald on the subject of a toll-free M50. One should be clear that many of those campaigns may have merit. I recall the Belfast Telegraph did a "save the railway line to Derry" campaign but they are run, partly at least, to promote the sale of newspapers and not just the merits of the case. There is a philosophical debate, in providing very good facilities like roads or railways, as to whether the users and beneficiaries should make some extra contribution or should it fall entirely to the general taxpayer? I doubt the Minister intends to change the plans already in place on that and I cannot blame him for that. He does not deserve the popular abuse he is getting from the Evening Herald but I hope it helps it to sell more newspapers.

Earlier this week, as I said in the context of another debate, I called in to the decentralised office of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in Tipperary town, which is the naturalisation service. Talking to staff there they expressed the blessed relief of working close to home and not having to commute. In any big city or metropolis people cannot in most cases live within easy walking distance of their place of work but we must try to make commuting as easy and comfortable as possible. Above all, we must give people choice to ensure they have not only one way of going to work but that they can choose their times and methods of transport, which may vary from day to day.

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