Ivor Callely (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senators for the opportunity to address the House on regional transport policy. It is appropriate that this debate take place today, not because of any media reports concerning me but because of the national launch earlier this month of the regional planning guidelines. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, stated at the launch in Ennis on 4 February 2005 that, for the first time, Ireland now has in place the entire hierarchy of strategic plans envisaged under the Planning and Development Act 2000. These range from the national spatial strategy, to regional planning guidelines and to city, town, county and local area plans. The national spatial strategy and the complementary regional planning guidelines recognise that the various regions have different roles to play in the country's development.

With the regional planning guidelines in place, the next task is to shift emphasis to the achievement of these guidelines' objectives in each region. The economic and social potential of our regions can only be achieved if the various players collaborate more closely on agreeing strategies for development. As far as transport is concerned, the individual regional planning guidelines provide a structured framework within which we can plan to meet the transport challenges facing each region. This framework will also help to achieve better integration between transport and land-use planning. Moreover, it will provide a clear context and direction for future investment within each region. In this regard, the Department of Transport established a national spatial strategy cross-cutting team, which contributed to the preparation of the regional planning guidelines for each region. This team will now work on the longer-term investment requirements of the different regions. Hence, my Department will work closely with regional and local authorities and with other Departments and State agencies in seeking to ensure that our transport requirements are met during the implementation of the regional planning guidelines.

Let me turn to the significant plans for investment which are being prepared by my Department. In his recent Budget Statement, the Minister for Finance agreed in principle that an extended ten-year capital envelope was appropriate for investment in transport. This reflects the long lead-in times required for design and planning as well as the substantial construction periods required for major capital projects in the sector.

The Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, stated in the Dáil yesterday that the ten-year transport investment framework will identify the investment and outline the measures required to develop further all elements of national transport infrastructure. It will address existing bottlenecks, many of which have already been eased. I hope many people have enjoyed the benefits of the work undertaken at places like Monasterevin, Cashel and Monaghan. Ten new projects started in 2004 and a further 16 projects to rectify bottlenecks have begun.

We are also considering capacity constraints, quality improvements, network use optimisation and prudent advance provision for future economic growth. One statistic that recently struck me indicated that based on projections from the 1996 census, the population of the Dublin area will expand by approximately half a million within the next 20 years. Four fifths of the nationwide increase will occur in the Dublin and mid-east regions.

The ten-year framework will take account of the recent substantial changes. We have seen large increases in our population, wealth and employment. Economic growth has led to significant increases in the transportation of goods as well as strong growth in car ownership levels, increased travel demand and increases in the numbers of people and goods passing through airports and ports. The ten-year framework will also take account of the linkages between transport, land use and spatial planning so we can develop a transport system that contributes to sustainable development in its economic, social and environmental dimensions. The framework will be informed by and will support the policies set out in the national spatial strategy. It will also take account of the regional planning guidelines to which I have already referred, and will be informed by and support a number of regional land use and transportation strategies for the cities, such as the Dublin Transportation Office's long-term strategy, A Platform for Change, and the Cork area strategic plan. I might say in light of some recent media coverage I received, that A Platform for Change is a very interesting document that should be digested by Senators who might be interested in transport development. The metro-Luas proposal is mentioned in the strategy. Officials from my Department have been engaging with CIE, the Railway Procurement Agency, the National Roads Authority and the DTO and the expertise and inputs of these agencies have been significant in helping to identify broad lines and priorities for programmes to be undertaken under the auspices of the new framework.

The current five-year envelope for transport investment is over €10 billion for the period 2005 to 2009. The precise financial parameters for the period to 2014 will be subject to final agreement with the Minister for Finance and my Government colleagues. My colleague the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, hopes to present his proposals to the Cabinet sub-committee on infrastructure next month.