Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I must now deal with a postponed division relating to amendment No. 1 to the motion regarding Dublin transport. On Wednesday, 10 May 2017, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to," a division was claimed. In accordance with Standing Order 70(2), that division must be taken now.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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2 o’clock

I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“recognises that:— transport and travel trends within the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) are unsustainable, congestion is increasing, transport emissions are growing, economic competitiveness

is suffering and quality of life for commuters and inhabitants is declining;

— the capacity of the Dublin Region as a destination for living, visiting and for locating and doing business is being seriously undermined;

— significant actions are required to increase capacity and usability of public transport, to better manage traffic during peak periods and to reduce the private car share dependence by commuting traffic especially;

— the population in the GDA is expected to grow by 22 per cent to 1.8 million by 2030 and by 26 per cent to 700,000 in the Mid-East Region alone including Kildare, Meath and Wicklow and increasing investment in rail services including the Dublin Area Rapid Transport (DART) expansion, as well as vital bus services including Bus Rapid Transit, is absolutely essential;

— this Government lacks a comprehensive vision and strategic plan for how to cope with future public transport demand in the core Dublin City Area as well as the GDA;

— previous Governments and the current Government have neglected infrastructural development, particularly in regional areas, but also in the GDA;

— many previous infrastructural framework plans were shelved or cut short due to lack of funding in the past decade, in particular the National Spatial Strategy; and

— the Capital Plan is emblematic of the lack of ambition, vision and forward planning for public transport;acknowledges:— that many of the main arterial routes into Dublin, including the M50, either have already reached operational capacity or are expected to reach capacity in the near future;

— the lack of preparation and forward planning for the impact of the Luas Cross City, including the impact of its construction on city trade and mobility;

— the urgent need to increase the numbers and frequency of public buses from expanding suburban areas, in order to tackle capacity issues and relieve traffic congestion for commuters;

— that while expanding capacity on our motorway and primary road network is something we need to plan for in the future, recognises that traffic demand policies are essential to relieving congestion as will sustained increases in public transport investment;

— that transport bottlenecks and congestion are increasingly becoming a drag on growth and productivity in our cities as well as hindering wider regional development in large parts of the country;

— that despite the historically low cost of financing to deliver economically and socially critical infrastructure projects, this Government has produced no policy plans for how to mitigate transport infrastructure deficits;

that now is the time to:

— examine the feasibility of decreasing the timeline for building critical transport infrastructure like the DART Underground and Metro North;

— make vital improvements such as bus lane completions and removing ‘pinch points’ for Dublin buses;

— ensure priority signaling at junctions;

— continue to invest in real time passenger information, which will increase capacity and service reliability on public transport, make it easier for commuters to get to work and relieve congestion in our cities; and

— begin work with local authorities to identify suitable sites for park and ride facilities at key locations for commuters, strategically located next to public transport connections;

— that the Government has completely failed to mobilise additional investment in transport infrastructure available under the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI), and of the EFSI transactions within the European Union, 6 per cent are in the transport sector, yet in Ireland there has not been a single transport project put forward by the Government to the European Investment Bank (EIB) under the €500 billion funding stream; and

— that the decision to cancel the DART Underground project, described by the National Transport Authority (NTA) as ‘the missing link’ in Ireland’s rail infrastructure, was short-sighted and a costly set-back for the liveability of the city, while the only large transport infrastructure contained in the Government’s Capital Plan, ‘the optimised Metro North’ proposal, could be fundamentally lacking capacity as it was recommended on the basis of reduced employment growth and passenger demand projections in 2013, which are no longer accurate; andcalls on the Government to:— commit to the retention of existing Dublin Bus routes and cessation of the tendering of routes;

— publish and fund a time-framed plan to make public transport fully accessible to people with disabilities, with a particular emphasis on DART stations, many of which require major upgrades;

— give a firm commitment to significantly increase annual investment in public transport, including funding to Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) companies to improve attractiveness, reliability and integration of public transport and to commit to an increased spend in Budget 2018, and in subsequent Budgets during this Dáil term, to allow for investment in key projects;

— establish a new, dedicated Cycle Way Fund for bike-lanes and cycle-friendly infrastructure, Dublin Bike extensions, the rolling out of secure bike lockers and parking throughout the city as well as funding for pedestrianised ‘open streets’ initiatives to encourage cycling;

— earmark a portion of the Local Government Fund to annual resurfacing, maintenance and quality improvements in bike-lanes and road verges to enhance safety for cyclists;

— commit, as part of revisions to the Capital Plan, to bolster capital investment levels by securing funding agreements from the EIB for critical transport investments like the DART Underground and Metro North;

— increase bicycle-parking facilities at bus and train stations to allow for commuters to cycle from home to and from train and bus stations;

— commit to the creation of regional forums, akin to the Dublin Transport Authority Advisory Council which was provided for in the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008 and amending that Act if required to facilitate this across the State, to ensure there is joined up thinking in transport planning going forward, given that Act now governs the NTA which has remit over the entire State;

— ensure, via the NTA, longer term budgets for CIÉ companies, rather than annual allocations, in order that longer term planning can take place as budgets are known in advance to company management, making it possible for the transport companies to allocate resources to increase capacity as required, and upgrade equipment and services;

— examine the feasibility of the possible extension of Metro North to include commuter towns such as Balbriggan, Laytown and Drogheda;

— examine the feasibility of fast tracking the Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy, and further to that, the Outer Orbital ring road which has been postponed until after 2035, as per the Greater Dublin Area Transport Strategy; and

— commit to setting specific commencement and completion time-frames for the commitments contained in this motion.”

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I move amendment No. 3:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“notes:— the failure of the Government to bring investment levels in Irish Rail, Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann back to pre-recession levels;

— that this failure has contributed to an ongoing crisis in our public transport system, especially in Bus Éireann;

— that systemic under investment in public transport provision is contributing to growing traffic chaos and congestion;

— that between 2008 and 2015, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael led Governments cut subvention to Córas Iompair Éireann (CIÉ) by some 41 per cent;

— that a number of different finance streams are available to the State to both increase subvention levels to CIÉ companies and initiate major public transport infrastructure projects;

— that Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) has €100 million in additional funds that could be released immediately to deal with any financial crisis in our public transport networks;

— that the continued reliance on road construction and the facilitating of private (for profit) transport companies is undermining both the provision of a coherent public transport policy and the existing semi-State bodies entrusted to provide this;

— that Dublin and the rest of the country require a radical programme of investment in public transport, in order to make our towns and cities sustainable and liveable and also to meet targets for reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and tackle climate change;

— that the National Transport Authority (NTA) has operated to undermine existing semi-State companies and has facilitated private, for profit, operators by, for example, increasing seat capacity of lucrative inter city routes by over 100 per cent;

— that the proposals by the NTA to tender out 10 per cent of Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus routes to private operators will do nothing to increase public transport provision in Dublin or elsewhere; and

— that the NTA have refused to examine the earnings or conditions of workers in private companies and that their policy is resulting in a ‘race to the bottom’ for workers in public transport; and

calls on the Government to:

— immediately commit to bringing subvention levels in all three CIÉ companies to pre-crash levels by year end, and to a fundamental shift in transport policy that prioritises public transport provision in the years ahead;

— instruct the NTA to cease their plans to tender out routes currently operated by CIÉ companies;

— use the €100 million in additional TII funds to ensure all public transport services continue to operate and that planned cuts to routes in Bus Éireann are stopped;

— begin the process of disbanding the NTA and ensure that policies such as tendering of bus routes that rely on neoliberal ideologically driven agendas are abandoned; and

— ensure a new deal for public transport and cycling that will change the face of our towns and cities, by establishing a publically accountable and democratically controlled body that can oversee investment in CIÉ and public transport generally.”