Ned O'Sullivan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I suppose that is part of politics. I regularly use all modes of public and private transport with the exception of the DART. It is fair enough to say that none of them is up to scratch. None of them has the confidence of the paying public. None of them seems to be equipped to serve the needs of Ireland into the future. Fianna Fáil welcomes the much-needed investment in Ireland's transport infrastructure, which is creaking at the seams. A strong public transport system is the backbone of any strong economy, but Ireland is seriously flagging in this regard. Our transport system is completely unfit for purpose and our road network is experiencing similar capacity issues.

The core question I must ask about Project Ireland 2040, which is an ambitious plan, relates to delivery. The Government and its predecessor have failed to deliver key infrastructural projects in a timely or efficient manner. We cannot allow another Luas cross-city debacle to grind our capital city to a halt. There is an ongoing underspend issue in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. In 2016, there was a capital underspend of €6 million as a result of delays and the non-completion of scheduled projects. Chronic underinvestment is at the heart of the problem. Years of underinvestment by this Government and its predecessor have left us in big trouble. While budget 2018 resulted in a large increase in the capital budget for land transport, in the context of what is needed the increase is no more than a drop in the ocean, particularly as we are coming from a low base. Over the past five years, Ireland has been one of the lowest net spenders on transport infrastructure in the EU. Capital investment in transport of €7 billion for the period from 2018 to 2021 is a huge 23% lower than our capital investment in transport between 2007 and 2010, when my party was last in government. The huge backlog of work that has built up throughout Ireland's capital infrastructure is now posing a considerable safety concern. The Minister cannot be happy about the crisis in the public service system. I refer, for example, to the measly 8% increase in expenditure on the public service obligation.

Fianna Fáil has proposed that a new national infrastructure commission be established and tasked with planning ahead, beyond the limited five-year cycle of current capital plans. This would be set up by reforming Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, and would draw from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, the National Transport Authority, NTA, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, and the local authorities. The new commission would be responsible for setting out a new framework for the development of transport in Ireland over the coming years. It would be tasked with overseeing long-term plans for the achievement of a series of targets: securing infrastructure investment of 4% of GDP, facilitating decarbonisation in Ireland, developing a strong transport network with balanced regional development, making Ireland an IT nation with telecommunications connectivity and providing for a balanced and secure energy mix. In our time in government, huge investment was made in capital infrastructure. I refer, for example, to the peak-level investment in infrastructure in 2008 under the most recent Fianna Fáil-led Government. Under this funding, we were able to deliver crucial projects, including the development of the Dublin Port tunnel, the creation of the Luas, the construction of hundreds of kilometres of top-notch motorways and the overhaul of the Irish Rail fleet.While we talk about the future, I always say that politics is now and politics is local. I am in my 12th year in this august House and when I started coming up by train from Charleville, there was not even a method whereby elderly people could traverse the platforms without climbing up rickety steel stairs with their suitcases. I raised it here innumerable times and the former Cathaoirleach, the late Rory Kiely, who I assume the Minister knew well, and I waged a campaign and I was delighted when I saw a proper lift system going in place about three years ago. That is the reality of how long it takes to get something done. I had to get off a train in Clonmel recently - a fairly sizable town, one of the biggest in Munster, to find that there was no public toilet in the railway station and that patrons had to go out across the street and ask for the key to avail of the facilities of a small supermarket. It is no harm to drop these real things into the debate and get our feet back on the ground. I urge the Minister to nail down investment in transport. I expect him to fight in Cabinet to secure the necessary funding to secure a modern, efficient system that is fit for purpose. In this he will have the support of the people and he will also have the support of Fianna Fáil.