Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will do so. A key point that should be noted by everybody who commented on the issue today is that yesterday afternoon, the NTA published the business case that informed my decision. The cold reality is that a €3 billion project - the cost of the tunnel alone - would the largest that our country has ever done, and the business case that underpinned it reflected assumptions of the country from a decade ago. Things are very different and will be very different in future, and I am certain a project of a different scale and cost can be put in place to address the needs of connectivity.

Deputy Dowds asked a very fair question. The National Transport Authority yesterday published a number of different options for a tunnel and I also announced yesterday that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, and I have already agreed that the capital funding will be in place to examine the redesign of a tunnel like that, as well as other elements of DART expansion and electrification. I accept that these are important matters.

Deputy Naughten made a number of points and I have acknowledged his role in calling for the use of the Phoenix Park tunnel. He called on me to consider how we can better integrate the needs of local hospitals with public transport and I understand exactly what he is saying. It is a challenge to find ways in which we can continue to fund the expansion of new services. Wherever it is possible, Bus Éireann looks to do it.

I want to make one point on a matter to which Deputy John Paul Phelan referred. Earlier in the year, there was, understandably, much public concern regarding changes that were due to take place in respect of the Nos. 5 and 7 bus routes. Deputies Lawlor, Heydon and Wall raised these issues with me. I attended many meetings with different delegations on the issue and there was substantial public commentary on it. We fixed the issues that people raised. We brought in new routes, I found new funding and we delivered in respect of the needs of people and communities, just in a different way. We actually improved the service for some communities in Carlow-Kilkenny. I wish the same level of focus as went into highlighting the problem had gone into the acknowledgement of the fact that the Government, with the support of Deputies, came up with a way of fixing that issue and responding to most of, though not all, the issues that people raised.

Deputy Tom Fleming made a number of points about hackneys - to which I will come in a moment - while broadly supporting the Bill, as did Deputy John Paul Phelan. Deputy Jim Daly also raised the issue of hackneys.

Deputy Farrell raised particular issues in respect of capacity for public transport in the future, which I addressed earlier in the day.

Deputy Clare Daly said she could not disentangle the various comments I have made in relation to public transport during the past day. I am of the view they have been clear in terms of what I have done and the decision I have made. I will be addressing other matters to which she referred in the context of the capital plan that will be brought forward in the coming week.

I acknowledge some of the challenges posed by the current area knowledge test for hackneys in rural Ireland, which was raised by a number of colleagues. The point was put to me by Deputies Kyne and Jim Daly that for larger counties it can be challenging to ask people who want to participate in hackney schemes to know the detail of every town in the county. I acknowledge that the subdivision of the county scheme could offer some benefits. However, it also poses equal challenges in respect of signage and clarity regarding smaller areas within the county and the costs that would be created. For every Deputy who calls up looking for smaller areas to be created within counties, others in the future will say it is not acceptable that we have hackney drivers who are licensed within counties and who do not know the location of different roads or different parts of various villages. That is something the National Transport Authority has communicated to Deputies and I support it in that. I will, however, revisit the matter in light of the number of Deputies who raised it with me.

Earlier in the debate on the Bill, Deputies Dooley and Ellis raised the issues of long-term funding for public transport and the need for further funding in that area. In the recent part of this Government's term and during my tenure in office, I have secured two Supplementary Estimates for my Department, the vast majority of the money from which went into public transport and, in particular, Irish Rail. The level of PSO funding for CIE was unchanged this year. Deputies were correct to point out that PSO funding declined but this happened across a period in which the number of journeys on public transport also declined substantially. If I look at where we were at the peak of public transport usage between 2007 and 2009 versus the position last year, there was a change of 40 million journeys per year in our public transport network across the period. While I accept that we need to increase investment in future in that area, the efficiencies the PSO changes had to deliver in recent years are the same as those every other form of taxpayer expenditure had to deliver across that period.

Perhaps the most substantial amendment relating to taxi regulation in this Bill is to clarify the procedure for on-the-spot fines and loosen some of the rigidity taxi businesses and owners encounter following the death of a licensee. This measure has been broadly welcomed by the taxi industry. I acknowledge the support of Deputies Dooley and Ellis for some of these measures.

Deputy Dooley commented on complaints about taxi drivers, saying that no further action was taken in three out of every five cases. Some of this inaction is because the complainant decided no further action was merited or because investigation found there was no case that merited further action. To reflect all that, the NTA has begun the process of changing the classifications under which it tracks the status of different complaints. Deputy Dooley raised a fair point regarding the understanding that could arise from the current descriptions.

In relation to issues with the resourcing of taxi regulation, I recently met the officials in the NTA who are involved in this work. I accept that there is a need, as there is in many areas of service delivery, to look at the number of officials who are involved in this work. However, I believe very important work is being done in this area and there has been a substantial improvement in the quality and quantity of taxi regulation in the sector. I want to acknowledge the role played by the taxi industry itself and the co-operation of taxi drivers in making all this happen.

The removal of taxi ranks, particularly in the context of the implementation of Luas Cross City at present, was raised by many Deputies. A great deal of work is currently being done by Dublin City Council in generating replacement spaces. A set of proposals was put to representatives of the taxi industry in that area earlier this month. I will look at this matter and the National Transport Authority is looking at it but when Luas cross-city is up and running, there will be more taxi rank spaces available in the city centre than there were before its construction. I hope that, along with other forms of transport in our city centre, we will see that kind of improvement in respect of the provision of taxi spaces at that point but work is under way now to deal with the issues the taxi industry has raised in respect of this.

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