Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I second the motion put forward by my colleague, Senator Paddy Burke, and others. We have chosen to use Private Members' time tonight to debate this very important issue, which has ramifications not just for Dublin city and the surrounding region, but also for the country, as the Senator indicated at the end of his contribution. I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for participating in the debate.

The Minister is in the eye of the storm at the moment, a storm of his making and choosing. He was unceremoniously slapped down by the Taoiseach in the other House last week, and he should reflect on what has happened over the past fortnight. Even if he had nothing to say when he appeared on RTÉ to tell us the great news approximately two weeks ago, he should have at least stated that a comprehensive study is going ahead. That is reflected in the Government amendment tonight. It states that Seanad Éireann "welcomes the comprehensive traffic study on the M50 which the NRA will now carry out". That is great. It also states that Seanad Éireann "notes that following the completion of the study, the NRA will submit specific proposals for the free-flow tolling of the M50 with approval from the Government". That is also great.

This is what the Government has to offer us after nine years in office. I heard the Minister's musing on the Pat Kenny radio show this morning. One would think he was not part of the Government or an operation that was in place for the past nine years knowing that the crisis was building up year on year for the last six or seven years. The Government cannot offer us a solution until 2008, and in the meantime there will be another round of fascinating and comprehensive reports considering the crisis that is on the M50 on a daily basis. The problem is of the Minister's making, and the reason he was diminished by the Taoiseach's remarks in the other House is because he popped up making comments that were clearly ill-thought out, which did not have the support of his own party and which he has been trying to elude since.

Senator Paddy Burke referred to two important issues which I wish to hear the Minister comment on tonight. One relates to contracts. There was a contract in 1987, but there was also a contract in 2001. It is clear there is a contractual obligation on the service provider, which is NTR, as my colleagues in the other House stated. This obligation was entered into in 1987 and confirmed in 2001, and it requires NTR to provide facilities "which are adequate, having regard to the volume of traffic using the toll road".

The Minister has stated his hands are tied and he cannot act to enforce this specific standard. He has never tried, and he has not once taken legal proceedings against NTR. Last year he had the audacity to increase the toll charge by approximately 15% because the company had asked him to. It is a bit rich for the Minister now to present himself as the champion of the Irish motorist and the person who will now solve the problem. He has never once attempted to take the NTR to task using the legal options that were available from 1987 and 2001. He claims that the obligations under the PPP contract are much more accurate and advanced than in the previous contract.

I am also interested to hear the Minister's reply to the issue raised by Senator Burke. NTR conceded to the Committee of Public Accounts last week that the NRA had had no discussions with it on how best to handle the opening of the Dublin Port tunnel.