Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House to outline some of the issues. I was briefly going through his speech and I highlighted how much of it related to Dublin and how much related to the rest of Ireland. I do not think there is a great balance to be honest.

I am keen to focus briefly on one issue that comes in under transport. I have put in a question on organ donation twice in the past month. The first answer I received said the data could not be given out because of data protection reasons and that the data could not be shared with doctors and nurses. I highlighted to the Minister's office that in reality the Minister has already shared the information held by the driving licence registry with private companies, including car companies, toll road companies, the Courts Service and many others. In fairness, the Minister came back and said that if the HSE asks for the information, he would be most willing to give it. Unfortunately, the HSE and the Minister for Health came to the Houses yesterday and said they did not want the information. This is despite the fact that 1 million people have indicated that they would like to be organ donors. If families know that their loved ones want to be organ donors, it increases the organ donor rate by 92%. The next time the Minister is at a Cabinet meeting he might encourage the Minister for Health in this regard. If we had such a system in place the numbers would go from a 50:50 chance of a family donating an organ when asked by a doctor to a 92% donor rate. I imagine that is worth doing.

The Minister brought up several issues. The issue of congestion in Dublin is pressing because it is costing approximately €358 million annually. By 2033, we estimate it will cost €2 billion. The plans outlined by the Minister are designed to alleviate this but we need an implementation process, a national infrastructure commission and especially a Dublin transport commission to ensure delivery. Such measures have been proposed by Fianna Fáil.

The issue of motor insurance is of major concern and represents a growing cost, as is the issue of driving licence tests, especially in rural Ireland. An applicant can wait up to 29 weeks in some places to do the driving test. Major punishments await those driving without an accompanied driver who has a full permit. In any event, we have to be balanced and the fact is we simply do not have enough driving licence testers. The Minister must hire more because 29 weeks is far too long for someone to be without access to a car in a rural area. In such places a person's job will depend on him getting to work. I note the Minister referred to first principles and the issue of cycling and walking infrastructure. That is of little use in 90% of the country because people have to drive to work or take public transport, if it is available. If a person cannot do his driving test, he will be unable to get to work at all.

The Minister raised the issue of climate. We discussed the issue of Dublin Airport in the House yesterday. This is a global issue in the transport industry. The amount of emissions coming from the airlines industry must be tackled in a global way. Under our 2020 climate changes targets we were to reduce emissions by 20%, but at the moment we have reduced them by only 1%. While we have the ambition, we are not implementing it when it comes to climate change.

I call on the Minister to address the extraordinary amount of money that is being spent on infrastructure in Dublin, as it should be. We have high numbers of commuters. Commuting time will increase further, adding to more congestion. We have to look at remote working, although I realise that is a matter for a different Department. I have friends who live in Cavan. We all know people who are commuting from one hour to 90 minutes. Some go by train but many go by car, thus adding to the congestion. We should reflect on spending billions on infrastructure in Dublin, as they do in other cities. Basically, that is the way the world is going. Places like Boston, Atlanta, London and Berlin are becoming engines to which people commute for an hour or 90 minutes. We do not have similar train infrastructure to allow people to get in from more remote areas. I am talking about the likes of Wexford. People commute from there but they use the car because the trains in some instances are full already or are simply not up to standard and do not get people to the city on time. If people could get to Dublin faster by train on an ongoing basis and have better visibility and a plan, then it might work. That is the way the world is going. We cannot fight the tide. We have to run with it but we should give people an option as well. Instead of getting into a car and being stuck in traffic for two hours, people could get into a train and go directly to Heuston, Connolly and Pearse. That option would then alleviate the congestion which would in turn ensure that our climate change targets were being met. However, we need an implementation process under a national infrastructure commission and a Dublin transport commission.

We are debating implementation but there are many things we can do. I have received numerous representations on the question of driving licence test instructors. That is something the Minister could address in order that people do not risk driving while using an inadequate licence. People should be appropriately trained and tested by driving licence instructors. They should be given the opportunity to drive the car legally and not have to take a risk. The Minister must hire more people for this to ensure people need not wait 29 weeks in some places to do the test.