Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak about this important Bill which continues the work that started with the McCarthy report on finding efficiencies in the operation of national agencies and authorities which are also known as quangos.

It merges the NRA and the RPA into what essentially is a new national roads authority which will be called the Transport Infrastructure Service, which makes sense. Given that the 2010 budget for the administration of both agencies was of the order of €25 million, the projected saving of at least €3 million annually, presumably, mainly in administration, is significant.

The ability of an enlarged authority to be a significant player in the public private partnership market is of greater relevance because there will be collective in-house expertise in the areas of public transport and the provision of the road network. With an improving economy, as we have seen in the case of the N11-Newlands Cross bundle, it was possible, after many years of trying, for which I commend the NRA for its perseverance, to secure funding for public private partnership work which, as far as I am aware, is on schedule in both cases and progressing. These are two vital pieces of national infrastructure and both Deputy John Browne and I share an interest in the piece along the east coast, the N11.

I seek clarification on the additional functions of the NRA. On the amendments to the Roads Act 1993, the Bill looks at the conferral of additional functions on the NRA by the Minister. Specifically, it looks at the NRA specifying standards and by-laws on road maintenance, grants, court proceedings for unpaid tolls and the accountability of the chief executive. Perhaps the Minister might clarify whether this will be in his gift by way of statutory instrument.

Deputy Noel Harrington made a valid point on the wild Atlantic way. An opportunity arises from time to time, the potential of which is evident in the Greenway in County Mayo, to make use of disused railway lines which are ideal for walking and cycling for tourism and leisure purposes. People are increasingly in favour of using such amenities. There are instances where old railway lines are no longer in use and what was Irish Rail more or less handed over the property to whoever the adjacent landowner was. I refer, for example, to the Woodenbridge to Coolattin Estate where the Earls of Wicklow were based and where it is intended to put in place a walk-cycle path from Arklow to Coolattin. At one end of the estate there is the Tomnafinnoge oak wood and there are in existane many walkways, but there is an issue with ownership in that the property has been transferred and is no longer the property of the State. Is there potential for the new agency to look at acquiring the land ceded by CPO in the public interest? It is on the register and, for various reasons, people are hesitant to give it back or to allow wayleave on it. This is something that should be looked at because there is significant potential for its development.

My first speech in the Dáil was on a roads Bill and I was advised to be parochial. I ask that the new agency look at the N81 on the western side of the county. It is the route that has been neglected, although it is a busy one. Admittedly, it is not as busy as the N11 or many others, but many parts of it are way below standard for a national primary route.

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