Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is hard to believe it has been three years since we took office. Over that time we have witnessed the transformation of the economy from a basket case to one which has one of the highest growth projections for this year in Europe. Where 7,000 jobs a month were being lost, 5,000 are now being created. Getting here certainly was not easy. The damage done by the previous Administration necessitated years of relentless work and sacrifices, which will continue. The sacrifices and struggles many Irish families have had to endure over recent years can never be understated.

Getting a country out of effective bankruptcy is never an easy task, and I take this opportunity to acknowledge those responsible for the recovery, namely, the Irish people. They gave the Government a mandate, but it has been Irish entrepreneurs, innovators, retailers, union leaders, public servants and others who have shown leadership, innovation and courage in some of our darkest days.

The work continues, and this is not the time for self-congratulations or mutual backslapping; let us not forget there is a lot more ahead of us. Along with economic progress, we are reshaping Ireland socially. We have to build a fair Ireland where wealth levels will not determine a person's right to access education and health care. The first step will be free GP care, eventually leading to universal health insurance. Added to this, the Constitutional Convention is preparing a programme of socially progressive legislation. Next year I look forward to campaigning and winning a referendum concerning the rights of gay men and women to marry. I know it will not be easy and there will be those who will stand in our way, but if the past three years have taught me anything it is that by sticking to one's guns, remaining focused and ignoring the supposed day-to-day crises, one can effect real change and make this country a better, fairer place. This is the true measure of any Government.

There are other areas in which we must progress. The insolvency regime was recently established, but it has yet to make the impact on the mortgage and debt crisis that is needed. Too many Irish people are still suffering under the financial and psychological weight of unaffordable mortgage repayments and negative equity. I come from that generation.

Long-term unemployment remains too high; too many of our people have left the country. However, unemployment figures are heading in the right direction. Figures today show the live register is below 400,000 and at its lowest level since May 2009. l can list endless statistics showing how the country's fortunes have improved, but our ambition is to make these more than just statistics in the news, and to improve in tangible ways people's confidence in their local economy, increase retail spending, bring about a revival in the retail and construction sectors, continue to attract foreign direct investment and continue to revive the tourism sector.

I will now speak about the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and those elements directly under my brief. I am delighted to tell the House that all of the commitments on public transport in the programme for Government have been honoured. Detailed programmes of reform are well under way in taxi regulation, cycling policy, rural transport provision and improving the commuting experience through smart technology. We have been living through one of the greatest financial crises public transport has ever seen in this country. This is neither a dramatic nor headline-catching statement; it is simply a fact. I had to introduce legislation to increase CIE's borrowing ceiling and the company has faced serious, crippling issues. We are still far from out of the woods on this front but we have made huge progress.

However, by targeting investment at real, tangible, technological achievements and advances, the Government has transformed the public transport experience and signs of growth are re-emerging every day as a result of all these initiatives.

This will be the first Government to rebalance transport policy to favour public transport and sustainable transport. The priorities under the current public transport capital framework plan to 2016 are to protect investment made to date, to maintain safety standards and to make targeted investments in affordable projects that can deliver a good return. The Government has set real, achievable targets, as opposed to investing time and money in grand visions that will never be achieved. The Luas cross-city link is just one example of this. One way in which the Government has increased public transport use is by using smarter technologies to make the public transport experience more responsive and passenger-friendly. A sustained programme of new, cost-effective integration initiatives with a focus on customer requirements, which include the Leap card, real-time passenger information and journey planning apps, has been introduced to promote and integrate public transport provision in Ireland. The ambition this year is to ensure 5 million more people use public transport than was the case last year and I believe this is achievable. The roll-out of the Leap card was one of my key priorities as Minister of State when I was given this area of responsibility and I was delighted to finally launch it in December 2011. Leap card sales continue to grow and now stand at considerably more than 430,000. Additional Leap card sales of 150,000 are expected in 2014, including 80,000 student cards, and more than 36 million journeys have been made using these cards since their introduction. The Leap card eventually will be extended nationally. The system will be rolled out in Cork in the coming months and will be extended to Galway later this year, followed by the other cities. Real-time passenger information, RTPI, provides real-time signs at bus stops throughout the cities, which removes the uncertainty of arrival times of buses. This has dramatically increased public confidence in public transport, and each day hundreds of thousands of people use these services.

Of course, it is not enough simply to have accessible information about public transport, as the services need to be accessible. The Government is committed to increasing the accessibility levels of all public transport modes. I am proud to report that 100% of the Dublin Bus and city fleets now are wheelchair-accessible, as is 56% of the Bus Éireann coach fleet. All of Irish Rail's intercity, DART and commuter rolling stock, as well as Luas trams, also are accessible. In addition to the public service obligation, PSO, bus services provided by Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, the National Transport Authority, NTA, provides funding for local bus services provided under the rural transport programme, RTP. I am dedicated to this programme, having announced a new structure for the delivery of rural transport last year. As a firm believer in the provision of rural transport, I noted that the old structures put limits on what could be achieved, and 18 transport co-ordination units are being established to manage rural transport services within their local authority areas in the coming months. This new system will integrate RTP services with the rest of the public transport network and will co-ordinate requirements for access to employment, health, social and education opportunities, thereby protecting the provision of rural transport services and ensuring the programme is permanently embedded as a sustainable part of the public transport system.

The programme for Government committed the Government to carrying out a review of the regulation of the taxi sector. This review which I chaired was completed and has led to 46 separate actions, the majority of which have been progressed, culminating in the passage of the Taxi Regulation Act 2013, which I brought through these Houses. The Act lays a solid foundation for radical change in the industry, change for consumers through better quality services, change for honest and hardworking taxi drivers who can be assured the rules will be rigidly enforced, and change for non-compliant operators who in future will find it impossible to continue to operate with impunity. I am determined to make that happen. Passenger safety and welfare are at the core of the Act, particularly in the provisions dealing with consideration of the suitability of small public service vehicle, SPSV, drivers. The taxi market relies on consumer confidence in a safe, reliable and high quality SPSV service. The regulatory changes being implemented through the commencement of the Act in the coming months are intended to ensure consumers will have the requisite confidence in the industry. New enforcement measures provided for in the Act also will be commenced shortly and these will bring about a new approach to enforcement that has never previously been seen in Ireland, with a trebling of the number of enforcement officers in the taxi industry. The Government also has established a rural area hackney licence. This new licence, designed to facilitate low-cost entry into the taxi sector, is specific to rural areas and now is in place. The new category of licence is being introduced on a pilot basis, but in time will serve to tackle rural isolation. It acts as a reminder that transport is not just an urban issue and that the transport deficit in rural areas, where market failures exist, must be dealt with. It is about time someone did so.

In addition to my responsibilities for public transport, I am responsible for the development and delivery of the Government's sustainable transport agenda. I put in place a programme with a €65 million multi-annual budget specifically to address cycling, walking and other infrastructural deficits. This funding has allowed for the expansion of the Dublinbikes scheme, almost tripling its size. A total of 58 new bike stations and 950 bikes will be in place by July 2014, bringing the total to 102 bike stations and 1,500 bikes. Bike rental schemes are being rolled out in Limerick, Cork and Galway and will be in place by the summer of 2014, in line with a commitment in the programme for Government. While many people did not believe it would be possible to deliver these schemes, I always thought it was. These bike schemes are being sponsored by Coca Cola under the Coke Zero brand and will be up and running before the end of the summer. Securing this sponsorship was one of the most significant achievements of my time in this role. In the coming weeks, I intend to announce the development of more flagship greenways nationwide, which will be developed between the present and 2016. Progress also is being planned in respect of electric cars, and a significant Government plan in this field also will be announced.

While there have been major achievements, now is not the time to stop. It is just as it was when the Government started this programme of reform and recovery in 2011, when the statement of common purpose then concluded, "There isn't a moment to be lost". It is on that note that I proudly report to colleagues the progress on the programme for Government, as well as the commitments in my area of responsibility within the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport for the coming year.

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