Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am having a serious bout of déjà vu.I have been the Sinn Féin spokesperson on transport, tourism and sport since I was first elected in 2016. Every October since then, I feel I have been making the same speech. That is because, in every budget since the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, took office, almost nothing has been delivered for the transport sector. The major problems that existed in 2016 remain. We have had decades of infrastructural neglect and a decade of severe cuts on top of that. Local and regional roads are crumbling and the Minister refuses to invest in them. Iarnród Éireann is in dire need of infrastructural investment. There is no sign of that either. National infrastructure is decades behind. The Minister has shown complete disregard for his portfolio since taking office. His lack of interest is well known. Frankly, it is outrageous. He is the Minister but he certainly does not act like one. He is more interested in his pet peeves, such as judicial issues that do not concern him. Instead of meddling in other portfolios, it would be welcome if for once he looked after transport, tourism and sport like he is supposed to. Perhaps he was given the transport portfolio because the Government had no intention of investing in transport and believed it would be easy to play him. However, this is a Fine Gael budget and the Minister has allowed himself to get played by the Government.

The only achievement of the Minister that I can think of is the privatisation of public transport services. One would imagine, given the legacy in other states, such as Britain, that even he could see beyond ideology and recognise the merit of public transport remaining in public ownership. A total of 10% of Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann routes have been put out to tender. The more lucrative routes among these were awarded to a foreign, private profit-making company. There is no reason for this other than ideology. Now another 10% of Bus Éireann routes is being put out to tender. Just as the Government has a mental block when it comes to social housing, it cannot get to grips with managing public transport. Private companies will not take care of social policy for the Government. Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus will happily manage public transport in the State if the Government only sees its way to investing in them sufficiently.

The transport budget announced this week is shameful. Was the Minister even at the negotiations? That is the first thought that entered my head. He must not have been at the negotiations given the budget. Did he sacrifice transport, tourism and sport for his pet projects, on which, incidentally, he did not deliver? One such project is the granny grant for one granny. There is no other explanation. The capital budget for transport, as announced, was €30 million lower, which is unheard of. We in Sinn Féin would have allocated €123 million more than the Government, with our capital mainly targeting local and regional roads, public transport accessibility and sport. We suggested our allocations before the Minister for Finance found €1 billion in the bottom of a sock.

Our roads are crumbling and have been for years but there is no money forthcoming from the Government to address this. It is another example of short-term vision. There is not even any cop-on because the longer one allows the roads to deteriorate, the more it will cost to fix them in the long run. Additional current expenditure is only €50 million but the Government has not explained where that money is going. When can we expect some detail on that? The Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath, should answer that because he is a member of the Government. Will any of the money go towards CIÉ public service obligation, PSO, subventions? Is there additional funding for PSO subventions? I have looked high and low and cannot find a reference to it anywhere in the budget proposals. Will the Government just continue privatising services so this will no longer be its problem? Perhaps it could even closed some rail routes because it cannot be bothered to invest or tackle the serious problems facing Iarnród Éireann, including the serious safety issues that have been flagged on many occasions in the public arena.

We would have allocated an additional €71 million, representing a 25% increase on the figure for 2018, for PSO subventions in 2019. That is €20 million more than the entire €50 million allocation by the Government for the entire Department. It is because we value public transport. We know its merit and that it is the solution to many of the problems we face - not only congestion but also air pollution. The additional funding would increase service provision in rural areas and increase frequency where transport services are shockingly poor.

Housing and transport both required serious investment but the Government failed to deliver on both.

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