Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Seanad for facilitating the introduction of this Bill, particularly the Leader for changing the Order of Business. I appreciate the co-operation of the House.

This is a short technical Bill to provide for the continued application of Part IV of the Local Government Act 1946 in relation to certain applications for bridge orders which authorise the construction of bridges. The Bill provides that Part IV should continue to apply and be deemed always to have applied to an application for a bridge order made to and being processed by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government prior to the repeal of that Part and to a bridge order made subsequently on foot of such application. Transitional provisions to deal with such cases were not included in the Local Government Act 2001.

On the basis of the advice available, it was considered that an application already made and processed, in respect of which a public inquiry had been held, could be brought to completion and final determination under Part IV. On this basis, a bridge order was made earlier this year in respect of the proposed new Waterford city bridge, to be constructed upstream from the existing city bridge as part of the N25 city bypass. However, subsequent legal advice, obtained in the course of the preparation of the State's defence in a court action concerning navigation rights on the river, raised concerns about the soundness of an order in these circumstances. The aim of the Bill, therefore, is to remedy any deficiency that may apply by providing for the continued application of Part IV in any such transitional case.

The bridge in question will be the fourth to be built over the River Suir at Waterford. Senators may not know that the first bridge, known as Old Timber Toes, was built more than 300 years ago in 1793 by Lemuel Cox. This was replaced in 1913 by Redmond Bridge. The third bridge at the same location, known as Rice Bridge, was opened to traffic in October 1984. The need for a second crossing of the River Suir at Waterford was first recognised in the 1960s and included in the city council's development plan almost 30 years ago in 1974.