Statement by Martin Cullen T.D., Minister for Transport At the Publication of the Report by the Establishment Team of the Dublin Transport Authority

Date: 09 November 2006

Under Transport 21 we are investing €14 billion in the Dublin transport system up to 2015. We have made very considerable progress over the past year in progressing the delivery of this investment programme and I congratulate the implementing agencies on their commitment. Notwithstanding this progress, I believe that the approach we must now take to ensure the full delivery of this historic and unprecedented level of investment requires a single authority with real powers that will deliver across all the transport modes.

Transport 21 is not only about delivering projects, such as the metro, which will transform Dublin as a place in which to live and work. It is also about ensuring the delivery of high quality, integrated services across all modes of transport. And making sure that traffic management, ticketing and passenger information systems are developed and managed in an integrated manner. I want to ensure that the people of Dublin and its hinterland have a transport system that is responsive to their needs.

It was against this background that I appointed a Team to consider the functions, remit and structure of a new Dublin Transport Authority capable of delivering the full benefits offered by Transport 21. I would like to thank the Team for their excellent work, particularly Professor Margaret O'Mahony who chaired the Team. My thanks are also extended to Pat Mangan and John Lumsden, who are Assistant Secretaries here at the Department and to Colin Hunt, my Special Advisor.

Government Decision

The Government has already approved the establishment of a Dublin Transport Authority having considered the report of the Establishment Team. The Office of the Attorney General and my Department are at an advanced stage in preparing draft legislation to establish the new Authority on a statutory basis.

In the new ten-year framework social partnership agreement "Towards 2016," the Government has given a commitment that interested parties would be consulted during the drafting of legislation. I am today publishing the report of the Establishment Team and seeking the views of interested parties in accordance with the commitment contained in "Towards 2016".

Functional Area of the Authority

The new Authority will have overall responsibility for surface transport in the Greater Dublin Area, which is the area covered by the local authorities of Dublin City, Fingal, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, South Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. This area corresponds with that used for the Regional Planning Guidelines and will therefore ensure the closest possible alignment between transport and regional land use planning. I am conscious that certain Dublin commuter services may not fall neatly within this area. Provision will be made in the legislation to allow the Authority take account of longer distance travel patterns and assume responsibility for procuring transport services outside the Authority's boundaries.

Principal Functions

As I have said, the Authority will have overall responsibility for surface transport in the Greater Dublin Area. This will be subject to direction by Government in respect of significant policy issues. It will have all the necessary tools to ensure that infrastructure projects are delivered on time and within budget, to minimise disruption to the life of the city during the construction of major projects such as the metro and interconnector and to ensure the integration and quality of public transport services. The following are the principal functions of the proposed new Authority:

It will be responsible for strategic transport planning in the Greater Dublin Area. It will set out the strategic framework for the delivery of infrastructure and services in a strategic transport plan covering a 12 to 20 year period. This will be consistent with Transport 21 and build on the Dublin Transportation Initiative and Dublin Transportation Office's "A Platform for Change". It will also prepare a 6-year implementation plan translating strategy into action. Both the strategic transport plan and implementation plan will be subject to Ministerial approval.
It will allocate capital and current funding for public transport and traffic management.
The Authority will procure public transport services, which are subject to public service obligations. This will allow the Authority ensure the integration of services and provide a new framework to hold service providers to account for the quality of services provided to the public.
It will regulate public transport fares.
It will prepare a traffic management plan for the region so as to ensure a consistent approach across all local authority areas, including during construction works for major infrastructure projects. Most traffic management functions will continue to be discharged by the local authorities within the strategic framework provided by the Authority. However, the Authority will be able to decide to carry out certain functions itself if it judges this to be more effective and to give directions to local authorities. The role of the Gardai in traffic enforcement will remain unchanged.
I would like to see the Authority having a variety of other powers to ensure a high quality and integrated public transport system. These include powers to ensure the delivery of integrated ticketing and information systems and the gathering and publishing of information on the performance of the transport system. It will also undertake research on transport to better inform future policy.

Regulation of Public Transport

I will be giving the Dublin Transport Authority responsibility for the regulation of the bus market and future decisions on the allocation of all public subsidies for bus services in the Greater Dublin area in accordance with the framework set out in my press release on extra buses and the role of private operators in the bus market on 28 September.

The Integration of Transport and Land Use Planning

In its report, the Team made a number of recommendations on the integration of transport and land use planning. The Government accepted the objective of the proposals made by the Team, which was to ensure a coherent approach to land use and transport planning in the Greater Dublin Area. However, it was concerned that the proposals contained in the report would unnecessarily dilute the democratic accountability of the planning process. The Government has, therefore, decided to adopt an alternative approach to meeting the objective of the Team on the lines jointly recommended by my colleague Dick Roche T.D., the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, and myself.

The new arrangements will allow the Dublin Transport Authority make a key input to the preparation and review of Regional Planning Guidelines for the Greater Dublin Area, thereby ensuring that they are closely aligned with transport plans. Future strategic transport plans for the Greater Dublin Area will be required to broadly conform to the Regional Planning Guidelines. Additional powers will also be given to the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government to intervene, if required, to ensure that regional planning guidelines in the Greater Dublin Area properly reflect transport planning undertaken by the Dublin Transport Authority. Local authority development plans and local area plans will have to be in broad conformity with the Dublin Transport Authority's strategic transport plan.

Developers of prescribed classes of development will be required to submit transport impact assessments as part of the planning process and planning authorities will be required by law to satisfy themselves that such developments broadly conform to the strategic transport plan of the Dublin Transport Authority.

These proposed arrangements reflect the shared commitment of both the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government and myself to introducing workable arrangements to better integrate transport and land use planning to ensure the full benefits of a more accessible city and hinterland envisioned under Transport 21 are realised for people in the Greater Dublin Area. More details on the proposed arrangements are set out in an accompanying document.

Next Steps

Before finalising my detailed legislative proposals, I am seeking the views of interested parties on the recommendations contained in the report of the Dublin Transport Authority Establishment Team. I have set aside the period up to the beginning of December for these consultations. Once I have had an opportunity to consider and reflect on the views I receive during these consultations I will finalise my proposals and will publish a Bill before Christmas.

I also intend to appoint 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 legislation. In due course this interim body will become the statutory Authority.

As I read the Establishment Team's excellent report, I became increasingly convinced that the scale of the task in the period ahead will require a chairperson who can devote virtually all of his or her time to the establishment of the Authority and to getting on with its extensive and challenging programme of work. I discussed this with Professor O'Mahony and she agrees with my assessment. However, she also indicated to me that her work commitments at Trinity College would preclude her from taking on this job on a full time basis. I will, therefore, be announcing the name of the chairperson of the interim authority in the near future.

In concluding, I would like once again to sincerely thank Professor O'Mahony for her invaluable work in progressing this important project.

ENDS