Cullen publishes Dublin Transport Authority Establishment Team Report

Date: 09 November 2006

Transport Minister, Martin Cullen, T.D. has today (Thursday 9 November 2006) published the report of the Establishment Team of the Dublin Transport Authority (DTA). The Team, which was put in place by the Minister last year, was asked under its terms of reference to make recommendations on the establishment of a new transport authority for the Greater Dublin Area; to address the remit of the authority - its powers, structure and the kind of organisation, human and other resources required; to advise on the content of the legislation that would be necessary to establish the authority on a statutory basis and to make recommendations on what interim arrangements should be put in place, pending the enactment of the legislation.

The Establishment Team, appointed by the Minister, was chaired by Professor Margaret O’Mahony, Head of the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Centre for Transport Research at Trinity College, Dublin. The other members were John Lumsden and Pat Mangan, Assistant Secretaries at the Department of Transport and Colin Hunt, Special Advisor to the Minister.

The Team has recommended that the DTA should have overall responsibility for surface (i.e. road, rail) transport in the Greater Dublin Area (i.e. Dublin city itself, Fingal, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, South Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow). In particular it should have responsibility for a range of functions which are:

· strategic transport planning;
· ensuring the delivery of public transport infrastructure;
· allocation of exchequer funds for public transport and traffic management;
· procurement of public transport services;
· regulation of public transport fares;
· delivery on an integrated public transport system;
· traffic management;
· management of transport demand;
· land-use and transport integration and
· data collection and research.

The Government has already approved the drafting of legislation to establish the new authority on a statutory basis. It is also providing an opportunity for consultation before the legislation is finalised and published. The Office of the Attorney General and the Department of Transport are at an advanced stage in preparing this legislation.
Speaking today, Minister Cullen said: “It is my view and the view of the Government that a single authority with real powers is needed to deliver a fully integrated transport system for Dublin. This will ensure that the people of Dublin realise the full benefits of the €14 billion in taxpayers’ money being invested in Dublin in transport under the Government’s programme, Transport 21”. The Minister added: “Transport 21 is not only about delivering projects, such as the Metro, which will transform the capital as a place in which to live and work. It is also about making sure that we deliver high quality, integrated services across all modes of transport for people accessing the city every single day of the week. I want to ensure that the management of traffic, how people purchase tickets and how they get the best practical information about travelling between destinations is managed in an integrated way. We need to make certain that city dwellers and communities living both inside and outside the capital have a transport system that is responsive to their needs”.

The Minister added: “I would like to thank the Team for their excellent work, particularly Professor Margaret O’Mahony who chaired the Team. I welcome the recommendations in the report. I concur with the report’s key recommendation that the authority, when established, should have overall responsibility for surface transport in the Greater Dublin Area subject to direction by Government in respect of significant policy issues”.

The Minister said: “I have set aside the period up until the beginning of December for consultation. This consultation is in accordance with the Government’s social partnership agreement Towards 2016. Once I have had an opportunity to consider and reflect on the views received, I will finalise my proposals, taking account of the outcome of the consultation, and will publish a Bill before Christmas”.

The Minister proposes to establish an interim authority, which will be charged with putting in place the necessary organisational arrangements including the recruitment of a Chief Executive Officer and other senior management personnel, pending the passage of the final legislation.

Editor’s note:

Views are welcome from interested parties on today’s published report by the Establishment Team. Written submissions (on paper or by email) should be sent to: Mr Karl Seeber, Department of Transport, Transport House, 44 Kildare Street, Dublin 2. The email address is: KarlSeeber@Transport.ie

The closing date for receipt of views is Friday 1 December 2006. The report is available to download in PDF format on www.transport.ie

Issued by: Michelle Hoctor, 087 8563070
Veronica Scanlan, 087 6430622