Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McGinley, to the House. I was delighted to hear all the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, told us and the amount of work that is taking place. I did not realise how much was going on. I was asked last year by RTE to present a programme called "Tracks and Trails" dealing with where I live in Howth. I think I was only the second choice - Gay Byrne was the first choice. During the series, what thrilled me was the amount of tracks and trails around the country. As it is the second of six slots, 12 programmes have been broadcast. I discovered that a large number of people now walk around Howth. The tracks and trails around Howth were originally established by people who lived there and just wanted to revitalise them. They did a great job and Fingal County Council has supported it.

I agree with the overall aims of smarter travel, which sets out the Government's vision of achieving a sustainable transport system, including a reduction in car use and a shift to public transport and other means of transport. However, I wish to raise some alternative issues. Is it possible to introduce one price for a bus and a DART ticket? That is what happens in other European cities such as Vienna, where one can travel in one direction and the ticket lasts for 90 minutes. That would make it much easier for the customer to do business and would speed up things as people would not have to look for change. That would be a very easy and sensible thing to do.

What I cannot understand is that while the Government wants to get people using public transport, the transport companies are always granted an increase in fares whenever they want it. Senator Barrett spoke about competition and we saw what happened with competition on the Dublin-London air route. We also saw very interesting figures on the Dublin-Galway bus routes so many things can and are taking place on that basis. One sees, however, the ease with which bus companies can put up their fares because every time they ask for a rise, they seem to be able to get it.

When my son-in-law told me four years ago that he was going into the bicycle business, I wondered where he got this confidence from. He has been very successful because he judged correctly that there would be a big increase in bicycles and bicycle use. One of the big problems with getting people to use bicycles is the massive risk of theft. It is practically impossible to own a bicycle and use it every day given the risk of theft or vandalism. What about the solution they have come up with in France, namely, the bicycle park scheme? It is a bicycle storage system that can be accessed with three types of season ticket for residential, commuter or occasional use. Using tickets or travel cards, it provides secure parking using an automatic anti-theft system. The bicycle park can be installed on roads or in car parks and retail units. Could we attract or install such a system here? We can learn from what others are doing.

An Bord Pleanála has refused planning permission for an artificial ski slope and major tourist development planned on an environmentally sensitive site adjoining the Dundalk race course. I know Senator Jim D'Arcy will be interested in this matter. The Irish Times reported that, in its ruling, An Bord Pleanála cited the smarter travel scheme in rejecting the project. However, this development would have brought 1.15 million visitors to Dundalk by car. We must be a bit more honest about our situation. I do not know the details of the development but I raise the general point that we are an extremely under-populated country. There are 60 million people in England, which is around the same size as the Republic of Ireland. Here, the population is 4.5 million. We have much more room for development and given that we are so spread out, the car is the only transport for most of the country. While we are talking about smarter travel, let us not become anti-car. An Bord Pleanála's ruling on the Dundalk development said it would be too car dependent, but let us be realistic. We are in a recession and we must consider a much more realistic viewpoint. It is not popular to say this to certain people but it might be a bit different for the unemployed person in the north east.

We rightly acknowledge Germany as the biggest and most powerful economy in Europe. That is fundamentally founded upon its extensive and quality road network and its ability to transport goods at high speed around and outside the country. They have little problem with unrestricted speed on autobahns. Meanwhile, we have modern, EU-funded motorways populated by extremely safe and modern cars and we are restricted to 100 km/h. We have gardaí hiding behind bus shelters on the Stillorgan dual carriageway and a toll on everything, including our own goods transported by trucks when they pass the M50 toll on our main artery. This is a barrier to trade. It is nice to think that everybody will toddle along on the formidable Brompton bike but if we are to compete, we need efficient transport, including motor vehicles. I have seen retailers in local town centres around the country - such as in County Donegal - face extreme difficulties because they are losing business to out of town shopping centres. We must find some way of encouraging people back into towns. Part of the reason local town centres are struggling is that people are unable to comfortably shop and fill up their cars with shopping due to a lack of parking. Where parking is available, wardens and clampers are around all the time. We need to keep commerce and competitiveness in mind when we allow this.

I agree that we must plan for the future but we must also be more realistic in our attitude to the car than we are. I fully support what the Minister of State, Deputy Kelly, is doing under the programme for Government with smarter travel. The examples he gave us were eye-opening because I did not realise so much was going on. However, there needs to be a recognition of the need for cars. Let us not become anti-car. Let us make sure that we encourage people to walk and cycle and also encourage bus and rail transport, but that we do not become anti-car on that basis. We have a great system and I am delighted the debate is taking place today. I wish it every success.