Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

The purpose of this Bill is to alleviative traffic congestion and provide alternative means of transport, which is a particularly sensitive issue in commuter areas. The problems in this regard have been obvious for some time but it took ten years to unravel some of the serious traffic congestion problems on the M50 and other routes. I hope the Government has learned from that experience.

The proposals in amendment No. 12 will be of benefit in achieving the objectives of this legislation. At times of economic flux such as we are currently experiencing, decisions can be made which have the effect of delaying necessary projects not for two or three years but for decades. Unfortunately, this is what happened on occasion in the past. The Minister should take the opportunity to examine the proposals before him, review the Bill and ask himself whether now is the opportune time to proceed or whether he can afford to delay and leave unchecked some of the gaps in service and infrastructure which have required action for many years.

The Minister has said that he intends to bring forward further legislation shortly. As an Opposition Member, I am not convinced by this assurance. One need only consider the number of Bills that have been on the Order Paper for the past 12 months. Only four or five of these have moved and nothing has been done in regard to the remainder. I foresee a situation where three, four or five years might elapse before anything is done. This is a particularly sensitive issue for people in the commuter belt. Anything that impacts on that in a positive way, such as this amendment, should be carefully considered.

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