Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran.

Fianna Fáil Senators tabled this motion welcoming the progress being made on the Government's smarter travel initiative. The motion was formally moved but no evidence was provided to support what is claimed in it. The Minister of State responsible gave a long reply but there was nothing of real substance or significance in it. Fianna Fáil Senators are putting their hands out to be slapped on this one.

The transport policy, smarter travel - a sustainable transport future, when launched, was hugely disappointing and lacked new ideas, any specific targets, funding and credibility. It was filled with vague unachievable aims and recycled policies that had already been announced by a range of other Ministers.

The Labour Party has long campaigned for better integrated land use and transport planning, especially in terms of new residential developments. There was little in the document to achieve this apart from some pious aspirations about adding transport considerations to future planning guidelines and requiring developments above a certain scale to have "viable travel plans" in place. There were no strict prohibitions on massive developments going ahead without proper transport services being in place for new residents. There was a failure to suggest any concrete proposals on the critical development of the freight sector and instead the document suggested a forum to explore in greater depth issues relating to the movement of goods. Difficult decisions on possible fiscal measures were avoided.

The key aim of the document to achieve a modal shift away from cars completely lacked any credibility given that the Minister oversaw the most savage series of cutbacks ever visited upon public transport services. With the loss of up to 400 buses and 600 jobs at Dublin Bus and Bus Éireann, the document is completely disingenuous to aim to expand and enhance rural and school transport services.

The section in the new policy on preparing for the successor to Transport 21 is a joke given that major infrastructural projects under Transport 21 are now in serious doubt. Astonishingly, there was little if any references throughout the document as to how the new policy will be funded.

Last year 11 Departments confirmed they have so far failed to rollout the cycle to work scheme. Under the 2009 budget the new cycle to work scheme was introduced to encourage more commuters to cycle to work by allowing employees a tax exemption for the purchase of a new bicycle or associated cycling safety equipment. A number of commuters have been in touch with me who want to cycle to work and have tried to access the new scheme through their employers, including Government Departments and agencies, yet last year several Departments failed to implement the cycle to work scheme. That was not very smart. Agencies under the auspices of the Department of Transport have been excluded from the scheme.

The 102 bus service in north Fingal in my constituency and other bus services were pulled by Bus Éireann under the current Minister's watch. How smart is that? Other Senators mentioned that the Waterford to Rosslare train service was pulled. How smart is that? Senator Ó Brolcháin also challenged that decision.

There has been a reduction in bus numbers in Dublin Bus. How smart is that? The removal of 90 buses was announced by the company on 23 April. It is difficult to believe there will be an increased and efficient service due to these cuts, which are being implemented by Dublin Bus. How smart is it when the people of Donabate and Portrane have been told the bus service cannot be there to meet the train service because the Minister had decided that Irish Rail and Dublin Bus are to be in competition? Would the Minister of State agree that is quite basic integration? How smart is it when, despite a long-standing promise, a pedestrian-cycle path along the Malahide-Donabate railway line has not been delivered? How smart is it when the only time the people of Ballyboughal, Oldtown, Garristown and rural Fingal have seen Dublin Bus is when a driver got lost, despite the fact that the residents of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow have a decent service?

How smart is it when the people of north county Dublin now only have a Nitelink service on Fridays and Saturdays? Does the Government expect everyone to be in bed by 11 p.m. on the other nights of the week? What about nurses who work a block of weeks and then have a few weeks off? What about students who are studying late in the libraries in Dublin colleges? What about bar staff who must pay the cost of a taxi home after working late at night? How smart is all of that?

The introduction of integrated ticketing for all forms of transport has been on the horizon for close to 15 years and supported by all parties, but it has still not been delivered. How smart is that? What kind of progress does that represent? Government Senators, Fianna Fáil Senators in particular, are a bit premature with their self-congratulations. It is laughable.

The interdepartmental working group is supposed to report on the progress of this policy; it was stated, "We will require a biennial report on progress with the first report submitted to Government in 2010." When we will see this? Has any progress been made on it?

The Minister's list was much ado about nothing. Nothing of substance was delivered in the first year of this initiative, everything is still to be delivered in the future. It has been stated that we are going to do this and that, that is the objective, but nothing of substance has been delivered in the year.

I am dealing with the motion in this way because Fianna Fáil Senators have congratulated themselves on what has been achieved. Little or nothing has been achieved in the first year of this initiative. There has been no significant programme and that is the only possible verdict on the smarter travel policy.

The Minister of State referred to the public bike scheme, for the introduction of which the Government may claim credit, but that was down to the Labour Party city councillors on Dublin City Council.

The section in the smarter travel policy document covering progress over the short, medium and long term, states that: "The first phase of implementing the policy will be mostly concerned with the setting up of new institutional arrangements and legal changes". That is mainly administrative and I do not know if much has been achieved in that respect. I will have to rely on the Minister of State to clarify that. That section also states that: "A major challenge in the initial phase will be to commence the transformation of the bus service". Admittedly they have been transformed; the number of buses available to Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus have been slashed. That it is a major transformation and likely to produce progress and smarter travel is beyond belief. That section further states that: "In addition, we will progress cycling and walking policies". There is no real evidence of that at this stage. The verdict for Fianna Fáil Senators on this motion is that they have put their hands out to be slapped, no real achievements have been made on this initiative. I hope for more significant achievement on this and I look forward to the interim report in the next few months.