Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:

"notes with dissatisfaction that:

the Government's public transport investment programme continues to suffer from completion delays and budget over-runs;

the continued congestion due to delays in providing an integrated and reliable public transport system is leading to damages to Irish business and social cohesion;

the Government will waste €2.9 million on an advertising campaign to promote Transport 21 in 2008 and will continue to spend taxpayers' money to promote a building programme until 2015;

the Government's unwillingness to set new targets for the delivery of key Transport 21 targets;

the Government's inability to deliver integrated ticketing and more buses for the Dublin region; and

the failure of the Government to deliver plans to maintain and support Irish rail life.".

I am pleased to move this amendment on behalf of my party.

The motto adopted by Transport 21 in the advertising and public relations campaign currently underway is, "Progress in Motion". While in fairness there has been progress in motion in respect of some parts of the Transport 21 package, progress in respect of many elements of it have been in slow motion with no apparent motion at all in respect of others.

I will first identify from where we have come in terms of the delivery of the Transport 21 programme, second, point to where we now are and, third, set out where we need to go to with this vital project. Yesterday afternoon we spent much time discussing the collapse of the public private partnership process in respect of housing projects in Dublin.

What is happening in respect of Transport 21 is also important in terms of the vast amount of taxpayers' money, almost €35 billion in total, already committed or spent. In far too many cases projects that will make an enormous difference to communities and parts of our country are running over time or are not happening at all. Let us look at the statements made by the Government parties when Transport 21 was announced. The former Taoiseach declared that his ambition and plan was to build a world-class transport system for the 21st century and to do so on time and within budget. The former Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, stated at that time that he expected all agencies to deliver the programme in full, on time and within budget. The main elements of those two statements were that projects be delivered on time and within budget.

A number of years into this project it is clear that too many critical infrastructure projects are not being delivered on time or within budget. Soon after the package was announced, warning sounds were made. One institute quoted in a different context during the past week, the ESRI, had many things to say following its announcement. It made the point, which if appropriate then is even more so now, that while the overall cost of the plan is €34.4 billion the individual costing of each project is not apparent to Members of the Oireachtas or the public. It also made the point that in many cases no alternatives were published or compared in respect of the billions of euro of taxpayers money being spent.

The ESRI further made the point, which carries more weight now, that there has been under-investment in the mode of transport, namely buses, which are so important to many people in Dublin and the greater Dublin area and that the hard decisions in respect of new bus routes have not been recognised or acted upon. It is of great concern to note that many of the crucial projects, about which my colleagues will speak later, that will make an enormous difference to the people we represent have been delayed. I will provide a number of examples in this regard, all of which are taken from the last annual report produced by the Transport 21 team from the Department of Transport.

None of the five key Transport 21 projects due to be completed in 2008 will be delivered on time despite the Government having committed almost €8 billion of taxpayers' money in this regard. The figure signature projects that are meant to be up and running, carrying commuters and making a difference to our economy and society will not be delivered on time. The greatest example we have of the lack of integration in terms of how taxpayers' money is being spent is the joining up of the two Luas lines in Dublin. While this project was to take place this year we now know that this will not be the case.

Many of my colleagues will give examples later of the situation in respect of projects outside Dublin whereas I am more familiar with projects in Dublin. The Cork-Midleton rail service which was meant to be operational by 2008 will not now be delivered. The cost of all of these delays is apparent to our business, our community and our environment. The Dublin Chamber of Commerce estimates that the cost of non-delivery of these projects is approximately €2.5 billion per annum. We also know that the private transport system in Dublin is responsible for almost one-third of all carbon emissions. The cost of the Government's inability to deliver important projects is enormous to our environment and our economy.

I have no doubt that if the Acting Chairman were sitting on the opposite side of the House and were about to speak on this issue he would accuse me of a dereliction of duty in not pointing out what we would do differently.