Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Cullen, and his officials to the House. I thank Senator Burke for his positive contribution to the debate, especially his concluding remarks.

The Roads Bill 2007 facilitates the introduction of barrier free tolling, redesignation of certain high quality dual carriageways to be motorways and a number of amendments to the Taxi Regulation Act 2003. I welcome the Bill as undoubtedly it will prove to be a simple and practical way to facilitate the efficient administration involved in solving the traffic bottleneck that is the West Link toll bridge on the M50.

While there is legislation to facilitate the introduction of free flow toll collection, it is necessary to strengthen the enforcement provisions relating to non-payment of tolls and to provide sufficient deterrent to cater for toll violations in a free flow open road environment. It represents a decentralising of some powers from the Minister to relevant bodies — the National Roads Authority and local authorities in the case of upkeep and construction of roads — and the Commission for Taxi Regulation. This will undoubtedly result in cutting the bureaucratic red tape and make it easier for the National Roads Authority to better manage and administer these duties in general.

As regards barrier free tolling, which is the main aim of the Bill, the utilisation of this technology is the future and it is time to embrace it. By enabling the driver to drive straight through a toll collection point without the need to stop or slow down must be welcomed. According to research undertaken by countries where similar technology is used, I understand 400 cars per hour can pass through a manned toll booth, 600 cars per hour can pass through an exact change lane and 2,200 cars per hour can pass through a barrier free tolling system.

I recently spoke to the Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport who had just led a delegation from the committee to Australia. He was very impressed with this barrier-free tolling system and highly recommended it for use on our motorways. This is very welcome news for users of the M50 and will in time be welcome news for users of the other motorways. Opposition Members may jump on the bandwagon and claim it is too little too late. However, no one could have foreseen the growth that has occurred in almost every sector of the economy on this island and therefore no one could have estimated the growth in motoring numbers using the West Link and other national roads and motorways. When it opened in 1990, only 3,000 motorists used it daily; by 1996, 25,000 motorists used it; by 1997, 45,500 motorists used it each day; today more than 85,000 motorists use it on a daily basis. Now with the banning of HGVs from the city centre, the use of the port tunnel and the 35% extra HGVs using the M50 daily, the problem of congestion is becoming more intense. Therefore, the introduction of barrier-free tolling in conjunction with the upgrade of the M50 must be welcomed.

It may be of interest to Senator Paddy Burke and his colleagues that our economic growth has been a double-edged sword. Thanks to the Fianna Fáil-led Governments through the years with dynamic economic planning we are one of the richest countries in the world. We are now dealing with the consequences of this growth and considerable catch-up is required. However, we are getting there. The Minister highlighted a number of projects that have been completed and are under construction.

When Senator Paddy Burke's party was in government along with the Labour Party until 1987, its legacy was bankruptcy and emigration. We now have a population of 4.5 million with a taxpayer base of 1.5 million. It is not that long ago under a Fine Gael-led administration that we had fewer than 1 million employed and fewer than 500,000 taxpayers. The Government is in the process of constructing a national motorway system equal to any European and international standards. We should compare our taxpayer base for the past 15 years with that in the countries used as examples by Senator Ross and others, such as Britain, France and Germany. They had the money, the population and the employment. We had not until recent times. I accept the M50 has its problems. However, what problems would we have today if it did not exist?

As the Minister pointed out in his speech, we should not forget our recent successes, such as the Luas, the port tunnel, and the various motorway projects complete and under construction. I congratulate the Minister on the excellent work throughout the country. It is not possible to travel in any direction without coming across the major ongoing work. I commend the Minister and his departmental officials on their efforts in particular on the M3 motorway which is very relevant to the part of the country from which I come. If it was not for people like Senator Ross and others aiding and abetting those who were protesting against the road, the people of Meath, Cavan and north Leitrim would now have a state-of-the-art motorway on which to travel in safety.

I acknowledge the great work on the upgrade of our rail networks. We do not yet have a rail system in Cavan. However, we will soon have a rail connection to Navan and we will continue to press the Minister and the Department to ensure we get it as far as Cavan and Donegal. I commend the Government on its Transport 21 programme. As the Minister said, €125 million will be spent each month on national roads between now and 2015. I acknowledge the work put into the M1 road to the Border. I use that road on a regular basis and it is a credit to everybody involved in the project. It is worth being positive about transport and road developments instead of always knocking them. I ask Senator Paddy Burke to clarify whether it is Fine Gael policy to rob the pension fund to pay for the country's infrastructure. While I knew about negotiations between Fine Gael and the Labour Party, I did not know that party was writing the scripts for Fine Gael yet.