Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Deputy Callely, to the House. The biggest losers in the area of transport will be business people in the centre of Dublin. They are losing business due to traffic congestion. More and more people will stop shopping and doing business in the city centre because there is total congestion and chaos in regard to traffic and parking.

I have great sympathy for the business community in the city centre. They pay the highest rents, car parking charges and rates in the country as well as many other costs. The city centre business community will be the big losers the longer the problems continue. Business after business will move to Liffey Valley, Blanchardstown and the suburbs of Dublin city, a process which can be witnessed daily.

There has been a huge increase in the level of traffic in the city in recent years. In 1997 there were approximately 180,000 cars in the city at rush hour but that figure is now 280,000. While much has been done by the Government in recent years to tackle this problem, it is not enough. I am disappointed with the Minister's contribution. He summed up the situation when he stated:

Park and ride facilities are an important feature in promoting the Luas network. The Railway Procurement Agency provides over 1,600 spaces at its park and ride facilities at Balally, Stillorgan and Sandyford stops on the green line and at Red Cow on the red line. An additional 450 spaces will be provided as part of a private development near the Tallaght stop, which will be completed soon.

That is the situation. Somewhat over 1,500 parking spaces are provided in park and ride facilities in a city where 280,000 cars are on the roads during rush hour. The Minister continued:

With the first lines in place and operational, the Railway Procurement Agency is now advancing plans for extensions of Luas to the docklands and Cherrywood. These plans will include private sector funding captured through levies under the Planning and Development Act 2000, from developers who own land along a proposed route. The Department is awaiting business plans from the Railway Procurement Agency to assist in its evaluation of both extensions.

Where does that leave the routes? It is a chicken and egg situation. We must wait for the business community or those who own the land to develop it before raising the levies to put in place the extensions to Cherrywood and docklands. I agree with Senator O'Toole that the land for these routes should be acquired by compulsory purchase order.

We must move forward because to wait for others to develop the lands would take years. The owners do not care. In many cases, the value of their land is increasing rapidly. As Senator O'Toole stated, CPOs should be used and the owners compensated. The Government, in conjunction with the Railway Procurement Agency should make plans to progress this. The Minister stated: "These plans will include private sector funding captured through levies." If we wait for levies to be raised and planning permission granted, the process will be a non-starter.

Senator Terry referred to park and ride facilities. When considering how to get a proportion of the 280,000 cars which use the city daily out of the city centre, park and ride would seem a sensible option. The Government, the Railway Procurement Agency or some other agency should buy portions of land where park and ride facilities can be provided at a reasonable cost so that motorists can park and use public transport to travel to the city centre.

I am a great believer in public transport. To have a solid public transport system is a necessary evil. I agree with Senator Dooley on the need for regional balance. Why should every motorist have to travel to Dublin to shop or to leave the country through Dublin Airport? Why can they not travel by public transport? In my case, public transport takes too long and is too awkward for me to use. If there was a system whereby one could, for example, drive for one hour from County Mayo to Athlone to get a train which would travel non-stop to the heart of Dublin city, I and others would use it. However, the public transport system now more or less provides shopping trains or shopping buses with the result that travellers do not use them.

There is no reason we cannot have greater access to Europe from regional airports. Why do the majority of travellers to Spain, Portugal or other destinations have to come to Dublin to leave the country? A vast area from Cork to Donegal and west from Athlone is served by access airports at Sligo, Knock, Galway, Shannon and Cork. Travellers should be able to use these airports rather than having to use the M50 toll road to and from Dublin Airport.

Much work has been done and I give credit to Senator O'Rourke for her work in this area as Minister for Public Enterprise. However, much remains to be done. The Government missed a golden opportunity when it got its wires crossed in regard to taxi deregulation. There was an undoubted deficit in regard to public transport but the Government took the easy way out when it deregulated the taxi industry. Dublin was flooded with taxis rather than buses whereas the taxi industry was correct in its views at that time. While hindsight is useful, there was a public transport deficit in Dublin.

The Government must quickly consider the use of park and ride facilities and CPOs and not wait for development incentives to be put in place because time is running out and the number of cars on the roads is increasing. Some eight years ago, the average number of cars per 100 of population was approximately 27. The then EU average was approximately 55 cars per 100 of population. Ireland has reached the EU average which is taking its toll on our roads and cities. With the affluence acquired over the past ten years, more people are using cars. Solutions must be found to get people out of their cars.

Members referred to the introduction of an integrated ticketing system, a step the Government has no choice but to take. A person should be able to get one ticket for use on Luas and the bus. Many elderly people use public transport and the current ticket system where one needs a separate ticket for Luas and for the bus only complicates their travel. Integrated ticketing will make the whole system easier to use. Senator Ross spoke about the service provided by Aircoach that has been a great success. However, part of its success is due to the hassles of parking at Dublin Airport. People now prefer to travel by Aircoach, leaving their cars at home, rather than facing the hassle and cost of car parking at the airport. I wish Aircoach well as it provides a great service.