John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill. Given the potential to reduce costs and streamline infrastructure planning, as a party, we support this legislation. However, we must look at the background to it. There has been a 17% cut in the funding for regional and local road maintenance works this year at a time when motorists are contributing €4 billion in taxes to the Exchequer. The Minister must outline the savings achieved. A figure of €300 million has been mentioned. I would like the Minister to outline how he intends to save that money by the amalgamation of the Railway Procurement Agency and the National Roads Authority.

I always felt the Railway Procurement Agency was one of the better quangos. We saw how it delivered the light rail and metro infrastructure in Dublin. The Luas was an excellent and successful project. The RPA is also dealing with the Luas cross-city project which will connect and expand Luas services at a cost of €368 million and which is to be operational by 2017.

Whereas I always felt the Railway Procurement Agency was worthwhile, successful and doing a good job, I would have had serious reservations about the National Roads Authority. I always felt the condition of road infrastructure and the way the National Roads Authority was operated depended on who was Minister at the time. Generally, the county or region from which the Minister for transport came benefited. In the south-east region we did not benefit in the way we should have, given the expanding population, having regard to the port of Rosslare and all of the advantages of the region. We are still waiting for the bypasses around Enniscorthy and New Ross which we are told will be provided by way a public private partnership. Recently the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, stated work might start in 2014. Certainly, that would be welcome because both Enniscorthy and New Ross have become traffic bottlenecks. This has been an ongoing issue for many years. The Gorey bypass project was successful. Other than that, there has been little expenditure by the NRA in the south-east. I hope that, following the amalgamation, we will see the major road projects about which I have spokem get under way as quickly as possible.

The cuts in the allocations for regional and local roads will have a serious effect on how local authorities operate in 2014. In rural areas of Wexford and other counties many secondary roads are full of potholes and breaking up at an alarming rate and the reduction of 17% will cause serious problems for local authorities. We are also told that revenue collected through the local property and water taxes will not benefit local authorities until 2015 or 2016. As a result of the damage done to roads by flooding in recent weeks and months, it is important that the Government make additional funding available to deal with problems faced by the local authorities in road maintenance.

There has been much talk recently about the reduction in the number of quangos. The Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin, has stated 46 were done away with. If one looks at the amalgamation of VECs across the country which accounts for most of the quangos that have been done away with, there has been little real change. In recent weeks there was the setting up of Uisce Éireann which will probably become the biggest quango of all. It is overstaffed, costs are too high and it will be full of bureaucracy and red tape. We have had dealings with it, both in the House and at committee level, in recent weeks.

The operations of Uisce Éireann leave a lot to be desired, including how the company was set up, how it will be funded and the future costs of running that body. I would like to see more quangos being done away with, along with more amalgamations. I would also like to see some of the better structures being retained. It would be better, however, if some of them could either be amalgamated or completely abolished.

Section 17 allows the NRA to engage in the procurement of goods and services for regional and local roads. The Minister should clarify whether this Bill is signalling the end of local authority control of local and regional road maintenance. Local authorities have already been divested of refuse collection, water infrastructure, roads, driving licences and road tax functions. I would like to know what the Minister feels about the future role of local authorities and local government in general. Councils will be top heavy with members and staff. Given all the infrastructural elements that have been taken from them in the last two years, they will become no more than glorified talking shops.

In other countries more and more power is being devolved to local authorities yet we have gone in the opposite direction. We have withdrawn many valuable services that such authorities used to provide very well. For some reason, however, such services are either being privatised or allocated to existing or new quangos.

The Bill itself is worthwhile and we certainly support the overall structure of what the legislation intends to achieve. I do not know what effect it will have on railway infrastructure around the country, however. Earlier, a colleague from Cork mentioned the closure of railway lines in his area. In the past 18 months, the Wexford to Waterford railway line has been closed, which cuts off the rail network linking us to the south west. It was a major mistake to close that line.

Rosslare is one of the most important ports in the country and has often been described as the gateway to Europe. Its structure is unusual in that Iarnród Éireann and certain UK firms are involved in running the port. Some years ago, when it was envisaged that the port would be taken over and re-established under a port authority, the late Séamus Brennan stated that not alone would legislation have to be passed in the Oireachtas but also in the UK Parliament to facilitate the changes at Rosslare.

Some time ago, the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, established a group to examine the future of Rosslare port. It is an important port for the country and for the south east in particular. More important, it needs to be upgraded to meet present day requirements. A number of additional shipping companies have come to Rosslare in the past year and are now operating to France, Spain and the UK. We hope to see more ferry companies operating from Rosslare. A major investment is needed for the port to provide all the modern facilities that large vessels require.

The Minister should clarify how €300 million in savings can be achieved. Where will the local authority fit in under section 17 of the Bill? Will the council have any future role in local and regional road maintenance, or will it all be taken over by a new body? If councils lose such services there will be very little left for them to do.

I welcome the Bill, however, and we will table amendments to it on Committee Stage. I am sure the Minister will be only too willing to take them on board.

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