Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

The amendments under discussion propose that the national transport authority's involvement in the planning process should be the same in all areas of the country and would be based on the arrangements already in place under the 2008 Act for the greater Dublin area. Implicit in these amendments is that the authority would produce a national transport strategy. The Minister's view is that it would be premature at present to give the national transport authority, NTA, the full powers of a national strategic land use and transport body. Members are aware that the Department of Transport publishes its own strategy statement every five years and produces other national policy documents such as Transport 21. Consequently, there is no deficiency in this regard. The NTA therefore will follow the policies of the Government in the implementation strategies.

However, the transport strategy for the greater Dublin area is a different matter that addresses an issue that is specific to a single geographic region. It is intended to be a highly practical document that sets out to solve the current transport issues there. The approach offered in the 2008 Act of a transport strategy is specific to dealing with the transport issue within the greater Dublin area. Amendments Nos. 22, 24 and 25 seek to have the NTA interact with all planning regions in the same way. However, this one-size-fits-all approach is not possible, given the difference between the greater Dublin area and the rest of the country. Section 43, as drafted, recognises the need for a slight difference of approach in respect of the NTA's involvement in the planning process outside the greater Dublin area. Amendment No. 23 seeks to require all planning authorities to include in their development plans and local area plans a statement on steps to be taken to ensure integration of transport and land use planning. However, the Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2009, which was presented to this House last May, makes provision in respect of these matters by requiring that development plans contain mandatory objectives for the promotion of sustainable settlement and transport strategies. For these reasons, I ask the Senator to withdraw these amendments.