Dan Boyle (Green Party)

While he made many fair points, he was slightly disingenuous when he said he believes this Bill can solve problems in all the areas he mentioned, such as spatial planning. I am confident that many of the issues he raised will be dealt with in parallel legislation, such as the new local government Bill and the two planning and development Bills. The fruits of this approach are evident in the amendments that have been made to the National Asset Management Agency Bill 2009. The issue of spatial planning and the role of transport in bringing about sustainable communities are at the heart of much of our legislation. The Bill before the House is similarly well-intentioned. I agree that the establishment of a national transport authority is important as a precursor to our future debates on the administration of this country's transport policy. We need to consider our expenditure on infrastructure and our approach to organisations like the National Roads Authority and the Railway Procurement Agency. I would like to see more cohesion in the latter instance. There may be scope for a single entity to be developed. The Bill before the House allows such matters to be considered in the medium and long terms. I agree with Senator Ryan that much of our transport policy has developed in a radial fashion from Dublin to the rest of the country. As a representative of this country's second major urban centre, I believe there continues to be a huge imbalance despite the additional resources that have been used to improve the scale of our public transport network and to offer more public transport choices in all our major urban centres. I hope this can be addressed through the establishment of a national transport authority. The provision in this Bill to integrate the Commission for Taxi Regulation with the authority has its own inherent logic. We need an integrated approach to transport if we are to achieve sustainable policies in the transport area.

Senator Donohoe started his contribution to this debate by saying the devil was in the detail. Many people would agree with the Minister that public transport routes and choices need to be expanded greatly. We can have a debate on who should provide public transport services. Consideration needs to be given to the effect of the introduction of new routes on the network in general. The introduction of additional routes, which would offer more opportunities and allow more people to use public transport, needs to be done in a cautious and careful manner. I hope the national transport authority can facilitate that. Existing routes that are viable may be undermined if people choose other options. The need to strike a balance in such cases is at the heart of this legislation. I hope the Minister will examine such detail on Committee Stage to ascertain how the Bill can be made more effective in this regard. I generally welcome the broad precepts of this legislation. I recognise that it is part of a package of measures that aim to make this country's transport system better and more democratic. The Bill is based on an acceptance that we need sustainable planning if we are to avoid repeating many of the mistakes that were made in this country over recent decades.