Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will share time with Deputies Feighan, Higgins and Heydon. I welcome the Minister back to the Dáil and wish him every success. My first point relates to MetroLink and BusConnects. It is essential that these projects proceed. There must be no go-slow on them. The statement today from the very eminent representative of the National Bus and Rail Union, Mr. Dermot O'Leary, who makes very significant contributions to transport policy, does not make sense. We must not abandon these hugely important public transport policies in the face of the Covid-19 threat. At some stage we will find a medical solution or vaccine for this evil virus. It would not make sense not to proceed with these major public transport projects, particularly in light of the tens of thousands of extra people they will be able to carry in the coming years.

My second point relates to the statistics on roadworthiness testing for commercial vehicles. The failure rate for vans and jeeps is 40%, for trucks it is 38%, and for buses it is 31%. The rate of test failures due to dangerous results is 4.9% for jeeps and vans, 4.7% for trucks and 3.1% for buses. More than 168,000 commercial vehicles had to be retested in 2019. This is a very serious issue. I appreciate that this testing has stopped as a result of Covid-19 but it is essential we take whatever steps are necessary to protect workers and so on by testing these commercial vehicles, which are currently on the road doing a very important and strategic job for our economy.

Perhaps somebody else might be able to tell me if they are legally entitled to travel on the Continent without this certificate of vehicle roadworthiness in real time. It is a very important issue that needs to be urgently addressed.

The Minister is well aware of the situation regarding bypass roads. In my constituency the Ardee bypass has been designed and money has been provided for it. That bypass is on hold for the moment while Louth County Council undertakes a reassessment. It is essential that the Ardee bypass is commenced this year. Excellent work has been done by Meath County Council and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport on the proposed Julianstown bypass. That is the 16th busiest road in the country carrying more than 20,000 vehicles and the bypass needs to be urgently prioritised. Whatever compromises are reached in the Government or elsewhere, if rural people travelling to working in Dublin or travelling around the towns of Ardee, Drogheda etc. are not able to do that efficiently owing to being held up in stagnant traffic for hours, that is not a price my constituents will pay. They would be extremely angry if these road projects do not proceed.

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