John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is welcome and I thank him for attending. I know he makes a point of attending for Topical Issue matters and it is very much appreciated.

The M50, the major ring road around Dublin carrying between 100,000 and 150,000 cars every day, is at a standstill at peak times. Accidents which happen cause complete logjams and backlogs and affect both sides of the road, feeder roads and motorway junctions, including those for the M5, the M6 and M1, and have a serious impact on the commuter belt as drivers come into Dublin. In a reply to a parliamentary question some time ago, the Minister said that congestion is estimated to cost this economy some €350 million per year and the figure is growing, not to mention the impact on people's mental and physical health of just sitting in a car or a commercial vehicle for long periods during the day, or the logjam it causes in residential areas which feed into the M50.

That is the problem. However, the answer to the question as to what is the Government's range of solutions is "zero" as of now. All the Government's projects are focused on Project 2040 and no projects are planned for 2018 or 2019 that would relieve traffic congestion on the M50. There is no project to relieve the standstill which people are experiencing. One of the things that was missing from Project 2040 is the eastern bypass, at which we must look again. I am not a major proponent of building huge roads again but that one is the last piece of the jigsaw around Dublin and it needs to be looked at in a serious way. I await the Minister's response.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister is as well aware of this issue as anyone else as congestion on the M50 features regularly on radio and news bulletins. Rush hour on the M50 is now 7 a.m., not 8 a.m. or 9 a.m., such are the volumes of traffic. It is not just the M50 but the feeder roads and their interconnectivity which are affected. Last Friday a truck was involved in an accident on the N4 but it resulted in considerable tailbacks on the M50, as far as Ballymun in one direction and Tallaght on the other side. That is an indication of the scale of the problem and the reliability of transport on the M50.

The Minister has previously said that the increase in traffic volumes is as a result of the economy growing and I do not disagree with him on that. The NTA indicated that, in 2016 and 2017, the volume of traffic on the M50 rose by 16%, which is very substantial. By most analyses, the volume of traffic we are experiencing on the M50 today is at a level anticipated by 2023. The challenge is to introduce measures to alleviate the congestion people endure on a daily basis, both on the M50 and on the feeder roads onto and off it, which are all interconnected. It was interesting to see that even a minor issue such as a small breakdown, rather than a fatal or multi-car accident, can bring everything to a standstill.

I am not asking the Minister about the long-term plans he has published for 2040 but about steps we can take in the next year or two to address congestion on the M50 and have some short-term impacts.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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I thank the Deputies for the opportunity to address this issue in the House today. It is not the first time it has been raised and I readily acknowledge that this is a constant problem that causes a great deal of difficulty for commuters. I fully recognise the pressures on transport infrastructure in the greater Dublin area, including the M50. Since completion of the major €1 billion upgrade of the M50 in late 2010, annual traffic growth on the route has increased at a typical rate of 6% per annum in line with increased economic growth.

Over 170,000 vehicles per day are now using the busiest sections and in excess of 420,000 vehicles use some part of the M50 daily. Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, along with other stakeholders, is continuing to implement a number of measures on the M50 to manage demand and optimise operational efficiency, including: changes to merge and diverge layouts at junctions; the introduction of permanently signed emergency routes; increased incident access points; increased provision of incident response units; and enhanced interagency co-ordination to improve incident management.

Traffic incidents which obstruct running lanes are a significant contributor to commuter delays, with 1,429 incidents occurring in 2017 on the M50, over half of which occurred during rush hour traffic. TII's incident response service resolves traffic incidents on the M50 as quickly as possible. The average response time for the M50 in 2017 was approximately 12 minutes. TII has also established a project team to manage the development of a programme for enhancing motorway operation services, which involves the implementation by 2020 of traffic control measures on the M50, including variable speed limits and dynamic lane closures. The aim of this programme is to improve operational efficiency by smoothing traffic flow, improving journey time reliability and reducing the number of secondary traffic collisions.

In so far as congestion issues in Dublin are concerned, the National Transport Authority, NTA, has overall responsibility for the implementation of its published transport strategy for the greater Dublin area, GDA. Congestion is not confined to a single corridor in the Dublin region and it cannot be solved by focusing on just one or two corridors. This GDA transport strategy provides a framework for the planning and delivery of transport infrastructure and services in the greater Dublin area over the next two decades. The strategy sets out a range of measures, including public transport investment and demand management measures, particularly in relation to the operation of the M50, which would reduce the time spent travelling on the network and alleviate congestion. The measures proposed in the strategy are linked to an analysis of current and projected levels of travel demand across the region. While the management of the M50 falls within the remit of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, an interagency approach which includes Tll, the NTA and the relevant local authorities is required to achieve this.

The national development plan, which was launched earlier this year by Government as part of Project Ireland 2040, identifies a number of key public transport priorities including the BusConnects programme, MetroLink and the DART expansion programme. These will be delivered by the NTA progressively and steadily over the short, medium and long term, to deliver a comprehensive public transport network to match transport demand, alleviate congestion, provide an alternative to private car use and deliver a range of benefits over the next decade. This will ensure that an integrated approach to the management of travel demand on the M50 corridor and connecting national roads, combined with the provision of alternative transport modes, is pursued such that the M50 is allowed to function for its primary intended purpose as a national road which caters for predominantly non-local trips of high economic value.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister's response was focused on Project 2040 and big projects and he did not even mention the air and noise pollution impact on people who live along the corridors. There is no public transport using the M50 and it must be the only city motorway in the Europe that does not have public transport corridors or separated public transport corridors. There are no park and ride facilities on the major junctions along the M50 where people could park and avail of public transport, and no major employers have been issued with bus licences that could help ferry their employees to work and reduce their reliance on the M50. There are no measures for the next year or two.

I am alarmed to hear the Minister talk of "demand management measures". That is a reference to tolling. Is he saying the Government approves of and supports additional tolling along the M50? That would have a catastrophic impact on the residential and suburban areas which feed onto the M50.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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The first issue in the Minister's response was traffic control measures in 2020. He said a team was engaged on this but we would like to see the detail of this because 2020 is not that far away. He also said the M50 needs to be allowed to function for its primary intended purpose as a national road which caters for predominantly non-local trips of high economic value.

We have missed that boat in the sense that Dublin has grown beyond the M50, significantly so. If that is the objective the Minister has in mind, an outer ring road needs to be developed because the M50 has become an integral part of city life in Dublin and can no longer serve that objective. As long as that remains the objective, we will have congestion on the M50 and the roads that connect to it. I urge the Minister to give consideration to the development of an outer ring road.

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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On the issue raised by Deputy John Curran, we do not intend to develop an outer orbital route. It is not in our plans and not feasible. The National Transport Authority's greater Dublin area strategy does not include such a project because it would be incredibly expensive. It also recommends protection of this corridor.

The suggestion made by Deputies John Lahart and John Curran that I everything I mention is Project 2040 focused is somewhat unfair. It is the nature of government and opposition that the former will always look for short-term alleviation measures and the latter long-term alleviation measures. It would be absurd for me to say I have a short-term solution to the problem of congestion on the M50 because I do not. Congestion on the M50 will continue in the short term. We have introduced a number of measures to alleviate it which I have outlined and intend to introduce many more which are not Project 2040 orientated. For example, the Luas cross-city service which is carrying an extra 10 million passengers per year will alleviate traffic congestion to some extent. BusConnects, in which we are investing €750 million plus, will commence operations next year, while MetroLink, on which work will commence in 2021, will be operational in 2027 which is a long way from 2040. We have already extended the Luas service and propose to introduce further park and ride facilities. We have introduced a number of measures, but we also have plans up to 2027 to remove thousands of people per day from their cars. I am not suggesting there is a panacea to traffic congestion on the M50. We have to optimise its use, but we are dong what is necessary to get people out of their cars onto public transport, which would automatically lead to a reduction in congestion on the M50.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Minister support tolling?

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are moving to the second matter in the name of Deputy Pearse Doherty.