Michael McCarthy (Labour)

That is according to the radio today.

The Bill gives effect to the budgetary increases in motor taxation in December's budget. An increase in motor taxation is no surprise, but it is disappointing that there is no benefit from such an increase, aside from a temporary improvement in the Government's fiscal situation. I accept, as does the vast majority of reasonable people, that we must pay more tax but motorists must see a return on the amount of motor tax, which is becoming very expensive, that they pay. Given the differences in mileage between urban and rural drivers, there is an inequality in the amount of tax each pays and those anomalies should be reflected in how the levies are set. While there are different levels of tax according to the capacity of cars, proportionately some people are paying much more than others. There should be a system in place where there is an obvious benefit in paying that amount of motor tax.

When one sees the number of increases which have been introduced across the board since the general election, it is no surprise that this is another stealth tax. Television licences were increased by 40%, a huge increase by any standard, while VAT increases have also hit people. The way these stealth taxes are affecting households is to push people closer and closer to the poverty trap. Those amounts might not be much to have, but it is a sizeable amount of money to give away when one is on a tight budget.

It would be interesting if the Minister for Transport came to a Seanad debate on transport policy as that area is nothing short of a mess. Every time we hear something it is drip-fed from the media and most announcements are made outside the House. With all due respect, we cannot have a proper debate on transport with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government or the Minister of State at that Department. We need the Minister of Transport in the House for such a debate.

Motorists should have value for the money they pay in motor taxation. For example, although road safety is a huge element of driving now, in the past many motorists were not fully cognisant of their actions on the road. It is sad that some people still have not got the message on road safety. After the introduction of the penalty points system we expected a consistent decline in road offences, but, unfortunately, that is not the case. Road deaths for the first part of this year have increased in comparison to the same period last year, which is very sad. Some people still have not got the message and are still speeding, overtaking dangerously and neglecting to wear their seat belts. That results in loss of life and very few of us have not been affected by road traffic accidents. It is absolutely heart-rending to see a family ripped apart by road carnage.

This weekend I will attend an anniversary mass for a friend of mine who lost his life two years ago. My first cousin was killed 14 years ago in a road accident and another friend died a number of years ago in similar circumstances. One wonders what type of system should be in place to make people aware of the imminent dangers on the roads and the amount of revenue accrued in motor taxation that could be reinvested inroad safety. That would give motorists some satisfaction because they would see where some of that money was going, particularly as the vast majority of them are paying exorbitant rates of motor tax.

Cork County Council is the licensing authority for vehicles in Cork city and county and, as one would expect, the council gathers a handsome amount of money every year. Not one cent is retained in Cork city or county because it all goes to the Exchequer. When I was on the council we had this argument every year during the estimates, or the budget as it is known now. There is no financial autonomy for local authorities but a good way to begin it would be to allow them to retain some if not all the revenue they accrue in their administrative areas from motor taxation. The amount of money involved is substantial and given that local authorities are cash-strapped, not least due to benchmarking, it would be a good way to address this anomaly.

Verge-cutting is another example of how cash-strapped my local authority is, which might sound like an issue someone wants to raise to get on a bandwagon. However, it is a huge issue in many areas. Last year the verge-cutting machines were not out, which created employment and financial difficulties for those who own the machines. One company invested a large amount of money in designing machines that would be quicker and more cost-effective, but very few of them left the yard last year. As a result, people lost seasonal employment and one individual was threatened by the bank.

The other side of this is that tertiary roads, which can be difficult to traverse at the best of times, became quite dangerous. The old adage that the briars were shaking hands in the middle of the road was almost true in some cases and that is very dangerous. We cannot be serious about safety unless we tackle issues like this constructively. This situation arose because the council had no choice but to scale down services and this was one of the main areas that was cut.

I am aware that the local and European elections are taking place in June, as is every Member. I wrote to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on this issue last year as it is crucial both for safety and for areas which depend on tourism. The Mizen peninsula, which attracts an inordinate number of tourists, has very narrow roadways and if one wants to take the Dursey cable car, for example, one must traverse narrow roads.

My letter asked a question which was quite clear, namely, what the situation was for 2004. The reply stated that Cork County Council had a discretionary fund of €33 million this year but I am still waiting for information on how much of that fund can be used for verge-cutting. Obviously, the council had that discretionary fund last year but was unable to find money for this worthwhile project.

Senator Bannon touched on the local improvement scheme, which is a perfectly good idea. It is a very good system whereby neighbours whose road is in a bad state of disrepair can make submissions to the local authority. An engineer provides costings and the work is done through the local improvement scheme. That is a worthwhile idea but in five years on the council, I only saw one of those projects, which had been going on since the mid-1970s. As we speak this stretch of road is almost finished but my predecessor was elected to Cork County Council in 1974 and he took the issue up on his election. His predecessor joined the council many years before that and he also pursued the matter in the 1970s. It lasted from the 1970s through the 1980s, 1990s and the new millennium and eventually the road has been completed.

The situation is simple. The budget allocation for local improvement schemes is far from appropriate. The allocation for my electoral area is approximately €150,000. There are many applications to avail of the funding to repair roads, but some of those individual jobs could use the entire allocation and still not be completed. What seems a perfectly good idea is only a good idea if real and significant funding is provided by the Department to local authorities to allow them to implement these schemes. It is frustrating when people come to me about the state of the roads. I discover the background to the issue and, when I speak to the engineer about it, I am told the only option available is the LIS. It is embarrassing to say the least because it would be a perfectly good scheme if the money was allocated to it.

The move from miles per hour to kilometres per hour on signage needs to be debated at length by the Minister for Transport and other interested parties. This is a huge issue which will cause much confusion. Some of these bendy, windy tertiary roads with bad surfaces, to which I referred, have the same speed limit as, for instance, the N71 in Cork and Kerry, which is crazy and a huge imbalance. If we are to convert to kph, which is probably a sign of the way in which society has moved and which is not necessarily good or bad, it will lead to confusion. Situations will arise in which people who have been caught speeding will try to convince the garda that he or she was looking at the speedometer, attempting to convert miles per hour into kilometres per hour and other such baloney. This is a huge issue and before there is any confusion it needs to be debated so we know the system. For example, who will implement it? Local authorities will not be sufficiently resourced to change signage in their particular administrative areas from mph to kph. I do not think it is possible.

There is a legal aspect to when this can be done, whether at night, in the morning or at weekends. I assume outside contractors will be employed. Whatever the case is in this regard, the issue needs to be debated now because it has a direct effect on road safety.

One can talk about finger signposting all one wants, seek money from the engineers and so on. An interesting case involves one of the divisions of Cork County Council which has had to replace signs in a particular area in County Cork year after year and has reached the stage at which it cannot do it anymore. The area in question is the Michael Collins memorial. On every approach road to Béal na Bláth, these signs are erected to point people in the direction of the memorial. However, every year, someone who works in a bar in Boston or New York comes home and a sign is taken. The next time one finds oneself in the Shamrock Bar in Boston, one will see a sign on the wall which reads "Michael Collins Memorial — 5 kms". We cannot attempt to legislate for that element. Nonetheless, it should be a consideration.

We have made huge improvements to the condition of our roads in recent years. It is wonderful to be able to get in one's car and drive to Dublin, use the Kildare bypass and avoid the traffic black spot in good time without hitting the normal stress levels one reaches if one is stuck there at 9.30 a.m. Huge improvements have been made such as the Lee tunnel, which is one of the finest pieces of infrastructural engineering designs in the country and possibly in the UK. However, other issues need to be addressed. For example, tertiary roads are still a difficulty, about which I have made a case.

I would like to bring the Minister of State's attention to the R586, which is the main artery connecting Bandon to the other west Cork towns and villages of Enniskeane, Ballineen, Dunmanway, Drimoleague, Bantry, Glengarriff and Castletownbere. Huge amounts of money have been spent on the Castletownbere route, which is a credit to all those associated with it. However, until the very bad road from Bandon to Dunmanway is upgraded it will hinder the employment potential and economic progress of west Cork. It is sad to see the main artery into an area, which depends so much on farming, aquaculture, fishing and tourism, full of bends. There is a continuous white line for most of that road. It is a huge issue in that area. Cork County Council's western committee submitted a proposal to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government last year in regard to this section of road. It requested funding to upgrade the road. It is not necessarily an upgrade of status but certainly one which could involve the construction of two carriageways in one direction in places, the removal of ditches and rocks and the provision of a modern standard of roadway for the area which would be good for the economic progress of the region as well as for safety. I am interested to hear the Minister of State's reply in that regard.