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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 22 Feb 2018

Vol. 965 No. 9

Dublin Traffic: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]

The following motion was moved by Deputy John Lahart on Tuesday, 20 February 2018:
That Dáil Éireann:
notes:
— the increased investment in the Luas;
— the introduction of Luas Cross City;
— the extra carriages to meet demands on the Luas;
— the large number of suburbs, towns and villages in the Dublin region that do not have Luas, Dublin Area Rapid Transit, DART, or dedicated public transport corridors;
— the recent national planning framework and national development plan which contains very long-term measures in public transport infrastructure;
— that Dublin is the fifteenth most congested city in the world;
— the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport’s analysis of the cost of congestion is now about €350 million per annum in terms of lost productivity and time;
— that, by 2033, this could reach €2 billion; and
— that cyclists, pedestrians, commercial traffic, private motorists and public transport users are all suffering as a consequence of city and suburban congestion;
condemns:
— the lack of forward planning to allow for the introduction of Luas Cross City;
— the latest traffic chaos in Dublin city centre and surrounding routes as a result of the above;
— the delays on the M50 at peak times, which is impacting negatively on commuters' quality of life;
— the backlogs of traffic on College Green and overall traffic in Dublin city centre, in particular the impact of the extra carriages;
— the lack of bus connections and adequate public transport corridors in large suburban areas in Dublin;
— the unnecessary bottlenecks caused on the quays due to lack of proper planning for the Luas extension;
— the negative impact on people’s lives this traffic chaos is causing;
— the delays it is having on buses bringing thousands to work on a daily basis;
— the lack of investment in extra buses to meet public demands;
— the lack of park and ride facilities on DART and Luas lines; and
— the complete lack of investment in park and rides for buses; and
calls for:
— short to medium-term policy changes to get routes into and in Dublin moving again;
— the improvement of all public service routes into and in Dublin to increase usage;
— an increase to the number of feeder buses to the Luas and DART;
— an increase to the number of buses at peak times;
— quality bus corridors and bicycle routes to be increased;
— more buses to be supplied to access Dublin city centre and decrease the use of cars;
— more investment to supply more park and rides earlier on bus routes on the N11, N3, N7 and N4;
— the electrification of the Maynooth and M3 Parkway commuter service line;
— proper demographic planning to deliver efficient and independent public transport infrastructure into and in Dublin city centre;
— immediate investment to increase carpark facilities at train stations;
— the introduction of incentives for utilising park and rides further out on bus and rail routes; and
— the usage of the River Liffey to assist with inner city bottlenecks as is done in other European cities.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:
"recognises:
— that there is evidence of increasing levels of traffic congestion across the Dublin region; and
— the short, medium and long-term public transport investment priorities identified in Project Ireland 2040 encompassing the national planning framework to 2040 and the National Development Plan 2018-2027, will address congestion in the Dublin region and deliver real change on the ground and network-wide benefits across the region;
acknowledges:
— the 2015 Dublin City Centre Transport Study, jointly published by the National Transport Authority and Dublin City Council, which sets out the various measures proposed for Dublin’s city centre to ensure the efficient functioning of transport within the city centre;
— the important role of the National Transport Authority’s Transport Strategy for the Greater Dublin Area 2016-2035 which sets out a clear vision for transport planning in the Dublin region;
— the Government’s investment in recent public transport projects and initiatives across the Dublin region including Luas Cross City, the upgrade to the Phoenix Park Tunnel, bus fleet replacement, sustainable transport projects, improvements to rail and bus station facilities and integration projects to increase public transport use and improve customer experiences through the use of responsive and passenger-friendly smarter technologies;
— the major integrated public transport projects identified as investment priorities in the recently published National Development Plan 2018-2027 which will address growing congestion in the city and capacity constraints on the existing public transport network, including:
— BusConnects, inclusive of ticketing systems, bus corridors, additional capacity, new bus stops and bus shelters;
— Metro Link, a full north-south high-capacity, high-frequency, integrated rail corridor through the central spine of the metropolitan area; and
— priority elements of the Dublin Area Rapid Transit, DART, expansion programme, including investment in new train fleet, new infrastructure and electrification of existing lines;
— the planned investment in park and ride facilities at rail, Luas and bus locations and the continued investment in sustainable transport projects including traffic management and other smarter travel projects along with new urban and cycling routes in Dublin to allow transport infrastructure to function more effectively and relieve congestion; and
— the important role of both the new national planning framework and the national development plan in the development of an efficient, integrated and sustainable public transport system across the Dublin region; and
calls on the Government to:
— commit to achieving a modern, efficient and effective public transport system at a national and regional level including the Dublin region, in line with the commitments in the national development plan and the national planning framework; and
— request that the National Transport Authority, together with other key stakeholders, continue to pursue strategies for alleviation of congestion in the Dublin region."
- (Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport )

I must now deal with a postponed division relating to amendment No. 1 to the motion regarding Dublin traffic on Tuesday, 20 February 2017. On the question that the amendment to the motion be agreed to, a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 70(2), that division must be taken now.

Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 41; Níl, 83; Staon, 0.

  • Bailey, Maria.
  • Barrett, Seán.
  • Brophy, Colm.
  • Bruton, Richard.
  • Burke, Peter.
  • Byrne, Catherine.
  • Canney, Seán.
  • Cannon, Ciarán.
  • Carey, Joe.
  • Corcoran Kennedy, Marcella.
  • Creed, Michael.
  • Daly, Jim.
  • Deasy, John.
  • Deering, Pat.
  • Donohoe, Paschal.
  • Doyle, Andrew.
  • Durkan, Bernard J.
  • English, Damien.
  • Fitzpatrick, Peter.
  • Flanagan, Charles.
  • Halligan, John.
  • Harris, Simon.
  • Heydon, Martin.
  • Humphreys, Heather.
  • Kyne, Seán.
  • Lowry, Michael.
  • Madigan, Josepha.
  • McGrath, Finian.
  • McHugh, Joe.
  • Moran, Kevin Boxer.
  • Naughten, Denis.
  • Naughton, Hildegarde.
  • Neville, Tom.
  • O'Connell, Kate.
  • O'Donovan, Patrick.
  • O'Dowd, Fergus.
  • Phelan, John Paul.
  • Ring, Michael.
  • Ross, Shane.
  • Stanton, David.
  • Zappone, Katherine.

Níl

  • Barry, Mick.
  • Boyd Barrett, Richard.
  • Brady, John.
  • Brassil, John.
  • Breathnach, Declan.
  • Broughan, Thomas P.
  • Browne, James.
  • Buckley, Pat.
  • Burton, Joan.
  • Butler, Mary.
  • Byrne, Thomas.
  • Cahill, Jackie.
  • Calleary, Dara.
  • Casey, Pat.
  • Chambers, Jack.
  • Collins, Joan.
  • Collins, Michael.
  • Collins, Niall.
  • Connolly, Catherine.
  • Cowen, Barry.
  • Crowe, Seán.
  • Cullinane, David.
  • Curran, John.
  • Daly, Clare.
  • Doherty, Pearse.
  • Donnelly, Stephen S.
  • Dooley, Timmy.
  • Ellis, Dessie.
  • Ferris, Martin.
  • Fleming, Sean.
  • Harty, Michael.
  • Haughey, Seán.
  • Healy-Rae, Danny.
  • Healy, Seamus.
  • Kelleher, Billy.
  • Kelly, Alan.
  • Kenny, Gino.
  • Kenny, Martin.
  • Lahart, John.
  • Lawless, James.
  • MacSharry, Marc.
  • Martin, Catherine.
  • McConalogue, Charlie.
  • McGrath, Mattie.
  • McGrath, Michael.
  • McGuinness, John.
  • Mitchell, Denise.
  • Moynihan, Aindrias.
  • Munster, Imelda.
  • Murphy O'Mahony, Margaret.
  • Murphy, Catherine.
  • Murphy, Eugene.
  • Murphy, Paul.
  • Nolan, Carol.
  • O'Brien, Darragh.
  • O'Brien, Jonathan.
  • O'Callaghan, Jim.
  • O'Dea, Willie.
  • O'Keeffe, Kevin.
  • O'Loughlin, Fiona.
  • O'Reilly, Louise.
  • O'Rourke, Frank.
  • O'Sullivan, Jan.
  • O'Sullivan, Maureen.
  • Ó Broin, Eoin.
  • Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.
  • Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
  • Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
  • Penrose, Willie.
  • Pringle, Thomas.
  • Quinlivan, Maurice.
  • Rabbitte, Anne.
  • Ryan, Brendan.
  • Ryan, Eamon.
  • Scanlon, Eamon.
  • Sherlock, Sean.
  • Shortall, Róisín.
  • Smith, Brendan.
  • Smith, Bríd.
  • Smyth, Niamh.
  • Stanley, Brian.
  • Tóibín, Peadar.
  • Wallace, Mick.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Joe McHugh and Peter Fitzpatrick; Níl, Deputies John Lahart and John Curran.
Amendment declared lost.
Motion put and declared carried.
Sitting suspended at 1.25 p.m. and resumed at 2.08 p.m.
Barr
Roinn