Martin Brady (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials. Like others, I welcome the Bill, which will lead to a cleaner and better environment. I also welcome the establishment of the interdepartmental group to examine the best way forward in promoting the use of electric vehicles. However, public representatives receive many letters and telephone calls from motor industry representatives about how they will be affected by the legislation. The industry is crippled currently with dealers having no space to store used cars and most not taking trade-ins. More details are needed on the transformation that will result from the implementation of the legislation and motor dealers must be taken into account because many people are employed in the industry.

Senator Norris referred to the taxi industry. There are more taxis in Dublin than in New York. Illegal taxi operators, taxi cloning where people use two or three plates with the same number, the manufacture of plates and the PSV licence test are all issues. Any amount of fraud is taking place and the system for testing has not been changed in the past ten years, but the Joint Committee on Transport is examining this issue. We also have a problem with women being raped in taxis and so on. I believe, as do many others, that the Taxi Regulator has lost control of the issue. She claims she does not have sufficient resources but her office took in €42 million in the past few years. The only way out is to put a moratorium on the issue of taxi plates until she gets a handle on these issues.

Senator O'Toole raised the issue of the Iarnród Éireann freight service, which I have been raising for years. This facility is under utilised and it would take many heavy vehicles off the road. For example, the rail line between Dublin and Navan has been closed for years. It would not cost much to reopen it. Several surveys have been conducted on the line and everything is in situ but I cannot understand why it has not been reopened. Our inland waterways are also under utilised and this issue should be examined because their use would also alleviate traffic congestion in Dublin and other cities where water taxis could be used to take people form the ferry ports to train stations. Senator O'Toole is correct about the under utilisation of the resources Irish Rail has at its disposal. Services cease at 11 p.m. every night and everything lies idle.

I refer to the new motor taxation regime and the funding of local authorities. I do not fully agree with it because local authorities have other ways of raising funds and the car user should not be penalised for everything. Motorists are under the impression the Government does not want them to have cars. I fully support the concept of people changing over from private cars to public transport but if they pay a substantial amount for a car, they should have the liberty to use it if they wish. Parking charges were increased a few weeks ago and people were told to leave their cars at home and take public transport. That is not always convenient. It is not easy to shop and use public transport. For example, I waited for a bus in Saggart, County Dublin, on one occasion for three quarters of an hour. It is not as easy as some people think. We must get public transport operating efficiently before measures such as this are implemented, which affect the public.