Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. Fianna Fáil is happy to support the legislation, which probably does not come as a big surprise to the Minister. We support it because it is technical in nature and is required due to the transposition of the EU directive that the Minister has identified. Like the Minister, I am somewhat concerned that it has taken so long to get the legislation to the House, and that we find ourselves in this emergency situation, considering that it has been around since 2004. However, I certainly do not think that any culpability can lie on the Minister's shoulders, on the basis of the amount that he has had to do since he got to the Department.

Under the changes to the directive, and without this Bill, the RAIU's scope would be limited, and some railways, including the Luas, as the Minister identified, would be excluded. Also excluded would be the West Clare Historical Railway in my constituency, which is one with which I am very familiar. I am also familiar with Jackie Whelan, who has done enormous work to recreate that historical dimension of the much loved and talked about railway. Therefore, it is important we show recognition to those particular facilities at this time.

We all have come to realise that the Luas has been a success. Its on-street activity and high visibility has assisted in that modal shift towards people leaving their cars behind and taking public transport. Therefore, it is important that we give recognition to that now.

Sadly, it is a fact of life that when a railway is put onto our streets, accidents happen, and they happen regularly. We should not be surprised about that. There is often a big furore when a Luas bumps into a car or a bus, but fender benders and little accidents happen on daily when there is on-street activity. In my view, it is a measure of the success of the Luas, that accidents happen, notwithstanding all the safety measures that are in place. It is important the RAIU is not inhibited in any way, and that requires us to pass the legislation without delay.

To broaden the point, and since the legislation is technical and there is broad agreement on it, I would like to say that I am reminded regularly, when I see the extent to which the State is responding to the pandemic and rightly spending colossal amounts of money, that those of us who advocated for greater investment in public transport down the years, were often rebuffed by the suggestion that the costs were so great that the State could not carry the burden.If one believes in something and accepts it is the right thing to do, money should and can be found to address, for example, the pandemic crisis, and rightly so. It is my view that money should have been found a long time ago to address the climate crisis that has been identified. The effects are not as obvious-----