Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I chaired a meeting of the Joint Committee on Climate Change and Energy Security this morning at which the proposals from the EU on emissions reductions were examined. The committee discussed the actions we will have to take in the period from 2013 to 2020 to implement the reductions already agreed by the EU Heads of State. It is frightening to consider the impact of CO2 emissions. Almost 20% of our emissions arise from the various forms of transport. We must take action to deal with this. That will involve facing up to the reality of the scarcity of fuel and to our dependency on the private car for transporting people and on the heavy goods vehicle for transporting goods. We are all aware of the recent increases in the price of diesel and of the future scarcity of petrol and diesel as the global supply is depleted. We must plan effectively for these issues.

For these reasons, I am fully supportive of public transport in general and of the establishment of a Dublin transport authority in particular. The bulk of our population resides within the region referred to in the Bill, that is, the area under the remits of Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and South Dublin County Council, together with Kildare, Meath and Wicklow county councils. It makes sense to legislate, as this Bill proposes to do, for a single authority that will ensure, for the first time, that there is a proper, accountable body with overall responsibility for surface transport in the greater Dublin area.

However, I have concerns about the accountability of the body proposed in this legislation. What does it say about our democracy that we must always exclude public representatives from these types of endeavours? How will the voice of the people be heard in the future? During my five year absence from this House, I was horrified to see the damage done to local government by some of the legislation enacted in that period. Local authorities are becoming dysfunctional and powerless. It seems everybody is to be given power other than those who put their names on a ballot paper.

The same is happening under this legislation. We are handing over significant power to ten people, none of whom is elected by anybody. I was looking forward to the introduction of this Bill and I asked on numerous occasions when it would be published. I was deeply committed to the establishment of a single authority to provide effective management of the transport system, particularly the public transport system, in the greater Dublin region. I note from the Order Paper that the Fine Gael Party, through our spokesperson, has had to table an amendment. I am glad to see our spokesperson is of a similar mind to myself. I regret very much that my colleagues and I may be obliged to go through the lobbies to vote against this Bill on Second Stage. Somebody has to stand up and argue that, in a democracy, people must be accountable.

See this speech in context