Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House to present this legislation to the Seanad. At the outset I will quote what was written about our city 104 years ago by James Joyce. He wrote: "I chose Dublin for the scene because that city to me seemed the centre of paralysis." When Joyce made that point, he had a particular form of paralysis in mind. More than a century later, we can see that other kinds of paralysis have gripped the city of Dublin. This is why a body such the one envisaged by this legislation is important and necessary for commuters and people resident in Dublin. On the one hand, we can see over recent years that the ability to travel quickly and safely through the city of Dublin has changed dramatically. The current commuting speed within the city of Dublin for those on our roads is 13 km/h. This is a fraction of what it is across other European capitals. As work by the Department of Transport has pointed out, this commuting time is to decrease to around 8 km/h in the coming years. Over recent years, we have seen an additional 100,000 cars on our roads. We have also seen an increase of more than 40% in peak travel times.

The need for a body such as the one envisaged by this legislation has never been greater because the other kind of paralysis we have seen is the overwhelming number of different organisations involved in trying to deal with the needs of our commuting public, both now and in the future. The National Roads Authority is involved in our roads, while Dublin Bus and, at times, Iarnród Éireann, are involved in the area of buses. The Railway Procurement Agency is involved in the Luas and metro. Among those involved in the regulation of these forms of transport are the national transport regulator, the Office of the Director for Traffic, Dublin, the Commission for Taxi Regulation, and a number of different local authorities within this region, all of which have their own traffic department and are making decisions on behalf of the people within their local authority area.

It is very clear that there is a strong need for an organisation to come together to deal strongly with the problems the city and regions of Dublin face and deliver co-ordinated and strong strategies and results for people to ensure these issues are dealt with. However, as much as I want to hail the implementation of this Bill and point out there is a strong need for it and it is good to see we are moving forward, there are a number of important areas where I want to criticise this Bill and make some points that must be made.

The first relates to the Bill itself. The Minister said it has more than 130 different clauses. It has been in development in different ways for nearly 22 years since its predecessor was abolished in 1986. The Minister has spent much of the past year deliberating in private on this legislation in recognition of its importance. Despite this, it is being introduced in the Seanad in less than a week. We all received the legislation and the accompanying memorandum just over a week ago. Second Stage is taking place today and I believe Committee Stage will begin next week. Given that this organisation will have such unprecedented powers and such huge influence on our commuters and the people who work in and provide transport in the city of Dublin, we need more time to scrutinise this Bill. It is not just that we need more time to talk about it ourselves. We need time to talk to the people who are experts in providing transport within the city and region of Dublin and who have a good grasp and understanding of what is happening to get their reaction to this legislation to help inform the contributions and amendments we intend making to the Bill. Owing to the speed with which this legislation is being implemented this week and next week, there simply will not be time to do that.

The second point relates to the role elected representatives will play in this organisation in the future. There is no provision in the legislation for the direct questioning of the Dublin Transportation Authority by a Member of the Oireachtas. If we have an issue in respect of how transport is delivered in Dublin, we have the opportunity to table a parliamentary question to the Minister who will respond with a certain period. As this legislation stands, no Member of the Oireachtas will be able to table a question to this organisation, which will assume significant responsibility and power within our region. I made the point this morning about the ongoing discussions that take place in the Seanad about the role of an organisation such as the Health Service Executive and the significant frustration experienced by many Members on both sides of the House in putting questions to it and getting answers. Are we making the same mistake with the Dublin Transportation Authority? As we all grapple and deal with the issues our constituents and other representatives raise about transport issues within their community or constituency, where is the provision in this legislation for any Member of the Oireachtas to get a straight, timely and accurate answer from the Dublin Transportation Authority?

The third point is in the same vein and concerns the role of elected politicians in this organisation. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform said last summer:

That isn't a viable way of running a country. That is not a very fashionable point of view, but we have gone down the road a little too far — I am not talking about the Department of Justice, but right across the range of government business — of setting up agencies and bodies at one remove from the government to whom the government can then abdicate responsibility for dealing with certain matters.

The point here concerns the role that politicians will have in the running of this organisation. It will have immense power over commuters and people working in transport in the city. It will be accountable to the Minister but the people who will make these decisions will not be elected politicians. I again go back to the many discussions that have taken place in this House about, for example, the HSE, although I could mention many other organisations, where many Senators ask where the power has gone and who is making the decisions about important matters we are facing. Are we making the same decision in respect of the Dublin Transportation Authority? When a Member of the Oireachtas or a member of a local authority wants to play a role in influencing a decision that has been made, there will be no other politician in that organisation with whom they can deal.

There is no factor more immediate and urgent in driving someone to make a good decision than the fact that they are responsible to an electorate. That is the way our democracy works. That impulse will not be present in this new organisation. If, in years to come, people from the Government side of this House blame the Dublin Transportation Authority for decisions that have been made or wonder why they cannot influence and make decisions themselves, they can look back at this legislation and ask whether that was where the decision was made and whether we had not learned from what we done before.

Two other points that are of great importance relate to value for money. One of the objectives and principal functions called out in the early stages of this legislation is the role for this organisation in delivering value for money in the spending of billions of euro of taxpayers' money. This is a superb objective but how is it delivered in this legislation? Even though it is called out as both a principal function of the organisation and an objective, it is not suggested or detailed in the legislation how this will be carried out. For example, should we not ask the Dublin Transportation Authority to publish a yearly report setting out how it is spending billions of euro of taxpayers' money, its efficiency in doing so and whether it is delivering the objective laid out in the strategy it will produce? From what I can see, the need for such a reporting structure or line is not identified in this legislation.

Where in the proposed structure is the recognition of the commuter, the person who has suffered from many years of bad decisions that have been made in respect of Dublin transport? The board of directors is the unelected group which will make significant decisions on behalf of the Dublin region. The legislation recognises the input of the local authorities and many other organisations and groups involved in the transport sector in the Dublin region, but the input and needs of the commuter who travels back and forth across the region is not mentioned. Commuters are given recognition on the advisory council. I have served on many advisory councils and their role is simply to advise, but the power will lie with the board of directors. I strongly contend it is within that body the voice and the needs of the commuter should be heard and recognised.

The amendments we will put forward will reflect the points I raised. We welcome the establishment of the authority and understand the need for this legislation to be implemented. It is critical that we learn from previous mistakes made in the setting up of huge organisations that were given vast powers over the people they are meant to serve. If, in few years' time, members of Government complain about transport issues in their constituencies and heap blame for those on the Dublin Transport Authority, we will know that if this legislation is passed unamended, they will be responsible for that situation in the future.

I emphasise the need for adequate time to be given to debate this Bill. This legislation has been 22 years in development. The Minister has spent a year considering it and making some changes to it. As a House of the Oireachtas, we need some time to do our job properly, to fully understand this legislation and to table good amendments to it. I hope the possibility that the Minister might be moving on to bigger and better things in the future and, therefore, the need to get this legislation through as quickly as possible is not what is driving the urgency and the speed with which this Bill is being dealt. If that is the reason, I would be concerned that the commuters of the Dublin region would suffer because of the haste with which it is being put through. I hope I will be proved wrong in that regard by the Government's attitude to the amendments we will put forward.