Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Callely, to the House, and also the Minister, Deputy Cullen, who was here to speak in a transport debate for the first time since his appointment to the Department. We are all delighted he has taken on the role and is up to speed so quickly, as is Deputy Callely. Based on the statements emanating from the Department of Transport, there will be a continued vibrancy in the office, ensuring that matters will be dealt with in a comprehensive and coherent way, something we have come to understand and expect from that Department.

It is timely that we have this discussion on transportation in Dublin, requested last week. This is important for several reasons as there seems to be an element of rewriting history, both in certain sections of the media and in the Opposition. One might almost be forgiven for thinking that the transport sector was in crisis. There are issues and difficulties, as there will always be with a developing environment and growing population, particularly that along the east coast. However, due consideration and recognition must be given to the level of investment and commitment from both the present and previous Governments. The issue should not become a political football. It is useful to have the debate in this House, where the approach is less partisan and where ideas can be discussed openly so that they can feed into the strategic thinking of the Ministers and the Department.

The Minister clearly outlined for us that under the NDP from 2000 to 2006 more than €2 billion would be spent on public transport capital projects. There is no doubt it will deliver impressive increased capacity in bus and rail transport in the city, which is very welcome. We have all seen the increases in quantity and quality regarding network availability. Since the introduction of the national development plan in 2000, Iarnród Éireann has almost doubled its capacity on the network in and around Dublin. As Senators will be aware, this is funded by both the Government and the EU. An additional 100 diesel railcars are used to deliver that service, most of them operating on suburban services in the greater Dublin area.

One probably has to consider transportation in Dublin in several circles, starting with the external one feeding in and out of suburban areas, and then continuing in stages. The central issue is management of traffic in the city's central zone, followed by the question of how to cater for the nearer suburbs. Iarnród Éireann's commitments and the investment it has made to increase service levels on the city's periphery have been most welcome.

Let us take one or two examples, considering such places as Maynooth, where the increase in frequency has been approximately 124%, going from approximately ten to 20 railcars. There have also been significant increases on the Dundalk line of approximately 43%. On the Gorey-Arklow line, the figure is 30%, and Kildare's will be 160% when work is completed. It might be a little repetitive to talk about what has been done, but it is important to get the information into the public domain. There has been considerable negative comment regarding the delivery of transport infrastructure in the city. It is important that we feed into the debate and ensure that the facts are clearly recorded.

There is the same level of continued service with the DART, where capacity has almost doubled since 2000. We have gone from 80 to 154 DART cars on the line. Due recognition should be given to Iarnród Éireann. I will speak presently of Luas, which is doing an exceptional job. However, the DART is still performing exceedingly well given its geography and based on the increased levels of investment it has been given. The service it delivers is still exceptionally good value for money and we should not lose sight of that. The debate on the Luas and the metro sometimes disregards the increased levels of investment in conventional diesel rail to the periphery and the DART.

There has been a great upgrade to the DART service, something with which the Minister dealt. I understand it has largely been completed on the south side, with construction ongoing at weekends on the north side. As well as the new DART I mentioned, there will be several phases to the overall upgrade of the system, including improved access and longer platforms to cater for the longer trains now expected in light of the upgrading of power supplies. That will obviously provide much needed increased capacity on the DART. The cost is approximately €176 million but unfortunately that significant investment has not been recognised by our friends opposite. When the second phase is completed, there will be an increase of 30% to 35% in capacity, amounting to 6,000 extra customers per hour at peak times. It is easy to look at the figures and the amount of money invested, but one must consider the impact on the lives of commuters and the fact that the system is dealing with 6,000 extra customers per hour at peak times.

The Minister has addressed the second phase of the DART upgrade regarding signalling in and around the city. This will ameliorate the current bottleneck, moving from 12 trains per hour in each direction to 16. That will really improve connectivity from north to south, an issue that has already been raised. The number of tracks from Kildare will also be increased from two to four, which will lead to a very significant increase in activity levels on that line, from approximately 2,500 to 15,000 passengers per hour. That massive extra capacity should not go unnoticed. The investment is approximately €300 million, with a 15-fold increase in service levels.

The Luas has been discussed in detail by several speakers. It has been a great success, and I do not think that there has been any negative comment since it started. There has been a little tittering about some minor accidents but more accidents of this kind, such as cars scratching each other, take place on two or three miles of any road in the city than on the entire Luas line. It would have been very foolish of people to expect that there would be no incidents, given the change in culture associated with the new system. We should congratulate all those involved in this House and elsewhere, especially the RPA for its work in delivering on time. Of course, the Minister and Minister of State must receive just recognition for their work in that regard.

Right from the start, Luas has provided frequent, reliable, convenient commuter services. There is no negative aspect. There was a great deal of comment by certain people who wondered what political party and what Minister would have the guts to take on a project of its size, recognising its impact on commuters' lives through the construction phase. I am delighted to have been in the party in Government at the time that was prepared to bite the bullet, take the tough decision, provide the investment and, to some extent, suffer the pain of negative publicity accompanying construction work. Now that is in the distant past and we have a really first-class service. It is great to see that its extension to new areas is now being considered. I very much welcome the Minister's comments regarding the connection of the red and green lines.

The level of confusion in that regard is probably unfair. When the Minister said he believed it necessary to connect the two lines, in some people's minds this was an automatic indication that the metro would not go ahead. Tonight Senator Terry said yet again that some comments from the Taoiseach meant that the metro was now off the track or was to be scrapped. I have listened relatively intently to the leader of our party on many occasions and read his comments on that issue with interest. He did not mention the scrapping of the metro project, nor did he indicate it was off the agenda. He said it was unlikely to be completed by 2007, but that it was still part of the overall strategy towards a solution for public transport in Dublin. This is something we all recognise.

Senator Norris and I are members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, and took part in the commissioning and development of a report which recognised the need for a connection between Dublin city centre and the airport. We believed, based on the recommendations of that report, that a metro was the best way to achieve this. There are a couple of issues surrounding the project. The metro has to be part of an overall budgeting strategy, which is for the Department to deal with. Some members of the committee went to Madrid to look at what they achieved in delivering a more cost-effective metro service. There are arguments relating to the ownership of land, particularly with regard to the extent and depth of ownership. In Madrid, any land below a certain depth was owned by the state. The significant costs associated with the purchase of land was no longer an issue, but it must be addressed in Ireland. That requires a review of the constitutional right to ownership. I hope the Minister would be prepared to look at the matter. There are also safety issues, with regard to building a single or twin tunnel, and these must also be addressed.

I support the concept of a metro between Dublin city centre and its airport. However, it must be part of an investment list which gives due recognition to the regions. We must get away from the idea that because there is a crisis in Dublin, all investment should go into Dublin. Today's debate is about Dublin, and the rest of the country will be dealt with another day. However, when the Minister is developing a policy or budget within his Department, or with the Departments of Finance and Environment, Heritage and Local Government etc., available moneys should be shared in terms of delivering infrastructure for all the people of Ireland, not just in the Dublin region. This should feed into the timeframe associated with the delivery of a metro service. One can always work a little from behind. As demand and population grow along the east coast and Dublin, one is always playing catch up.

It is similar to decentralisation. Is it not better to develop the regions? Is it not better to develop a counter-balance along the west coast, building a level of infrastructure to encourage people to live there? It would, to an extent, stem the continued accelerated growth in the city. There are Members present from the Dublin area who will want to see continued investment. However, as long as I am in this House I will continue to fight for the west of Ireland's slice of the pudding.