Opening Speech by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Shane Ross TD, at the opening of the Round-Table on Public Transport Policy

Introduction
So why are we here today?
What’s going to happen today?
What is Public Transport?
Closing

Check against delivery

Introduction

Good morning, ladies and gentleman.

It’s my pleasure to welcome you all to the Round-Table on Public Transport Policy.

It’s great to see such a broad range of stakeholders here to represent different strands of the Irish Public Transport Sector. Today we have people from across the sector and beyond: consumer and passenger interests, transport operators, infrastructure providers, staff unions, business interests, environmental groups, regulators, legislature, policy makers and the research and academic community.

I particularly want to welcome members of the Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport.

Finally, I would like to thank Prof. Alan Barrett for agreeing to chair the proceedings today.

Before we go any further, I want to make one thing clear. I am not here to represent the management of the state companies. Nor am I here to advocate for an agenda of privatisation. Nor am I here to solely press for the any other individual stakeholder, from the unions, to the taxi drivers, to the NTA. My primary focus is the public transport user. Ensuring that they get from A to B, in an efficient, accessible, sustainable and reasonably priced way is my goal, while being cognisant of the need for economy in using tax payers’ money. That is my goal and something I think we can and should work together to ensure.

So why are we here today?

My role as Minister is to set the policy framework for the sector and to prepare legislation for the Oireachtas to decide on. I also hold the State’s shareholding in the publicly-owned operators on behalf of the Government and citizens, and I also have a governance role with many of the official bodies in the sector.

Many of you may know that the Programme for Government commits to having a review of public transport policy “to ensure services are sustainable into the future and are meeting the needs of a modern economy”. I like that idea. It makes us think about the sector and the policy frameworks. It urges us to generate a discussion; to seek views; to get opinions; to examine the facts; and to tap into all the experiences. We have to ask – what are the important things in public transport? What is working well? What isn’t?

Of course it isn’t just the Programme for Government that wants us to look at policy. Several of you in this room have asked for this too. Over the last ten years, my Department has developed policy statements for aviation, for ports and for tourism. We are preparing one on sport. Why not one for public transport? In time, maybe for roads too.

My Department and I are working on the policy review with the aim of preparing a policy statement. We can’t do it alone. And we’re not going to have the best policy balance if we only talk to the State companies? Or only the Operators? Or only the Unions? Or only the Regulators? Or only the expert analysts and academics. We need engagement across the board.

Today’s event is pretty much an opener on that public transport policy review. It’s the chance to sit down with people from public transport and those who are interested in what we do. To look at the facts. To identify aspirations. To explore the challenges. To think about the priorities and how to find the best way forward.

It’s about a year since I said I’d hold an event like this, to have a wide and open discussion about policy. To let everyone put forward their views and be heard by all. I have been keen to host this event and I’m genuinely pleased that recent resolutions have created the space to allow our roundtable go ahead now.

What’s going to happen today?

Well, we’re going to have a few discussions on a broad spectrum of themes. I’d like to see everyone contributing. We want to hear your perspectives, your thoughts. Then later we’re going to invite some of you from around the table to come up to the stage for a panel discussion to share your reflections on the day’s proceedings.

You may be wondering what will happen after today? Will we all have a great chat and then forget about it afterwards? No. First of all, after today the Chair will prepare a report on this event. He’ll draw together all the discussions and distil the key points. Then after that I want to cast the net wider. We have lots of people here today but we don’t have everyone. So our next step will be to get a public consultation going. We’ll publish the Chairman’s report, and all the papers and presentations from today and ask the public for their views. This will happen over the summer.

We will also be introducing a range of other key public transport measures over this time too:

tomorrow I will bring forward for discussion with my Cabinet Colleagues, important new provisions to further enhance railway safety and ensure consistency in standards applied for train drivers and professionals like bus, taxi or HGV drivers on the road
Luas Red and Green line users will see a new timetable introduced in June to provide additional peak time capacity
Bike Week will also take place in June with bike themed events organised by local authorities, community groups and cycling groups throughout Ireland, the three-fold increase in the level of investment of €110m for cycling infrastructure over the next four years will allow NTA and the local authorities progress cycling projects; Before the summer recess, I expect to publish the heads of the Bill to amend Section 52 of the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008, to clarify and confirm in law, the intention of the Oireachtas, with regards to the confines of ‘Bus Market Opening’
later in the Summer Bus Users will see additional fleet coming on-line delivering additional capacity on busy routes currently experiencing high passenger numbers in peak hours; there are three very significant milestones for the €2.4bn BusConnects in the weeks and months ahead where NTA will launch public consultation on 16 core bus corridors in and out of the city, the redesigned network, schedule and fare structures of bus services for Dublin and the detailed plans for the 16 core bus corridors – it’s also worth noting that Bus Connects presents a radical transformation for cyclists too with it planned to add over 200km of cycling infrastructure for the city
for DART and Rail users, a 10 minute DART service will be provided later this year and the current peak time rail services from the Kildare Rail Line linking with the City Centre through the Phoenix Park Tunnel will be expanded to provide an all-day service
we will trial evening and night-time services in rural areas through our local link offices to prevent further social isolation and the NTA has again approached those Local Link offices along the Western seaboard who had not yet proposed new services to now take-up that offer
I will be following on my commitment to ensuring that all State-owned public transport companies under my remit have at least one board member who has personal knowledge and experience of the needs and difficulties of people with disabilities using public transport. I expect the Public Appointments Service assessment process to be completed in the coming weeks and I look forward to making appointments to each of the Boards of the National Transport Authority, Irish Rail, Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus soon thereafter

What is Public Transport?

Let’s turn to Public Transport. What is it? What can we say about it? In the last couple of days you’ve all seen the background document we’ve prepared. It attempts to give a high level run through of the public transport system. It doesn’t capture everything. It concentrates on the facts and gives some interesting graphics. The data should help inform the discussion. The paper sets out a one-page list of questions. These are just suggestions. They are not exhaustive. But they might be useful in thinking about what we are going to say today. You might not have had a chance to get through it in detail or in the time available you may have just have been able to concentrate on your piece that relates to you. I would encourage you to look through it all at some stage. And if you’ve further thoughts, then engage in our public consultation later.

The most recent transport initiative I announced was the expansion to Local Link. This is a perfect example of listening to the passenger, recognising a problem with their transport options, and working with local providers to reach a creative solution. However, even with the combined budgets of all government departments, I still wouldn’t be able to get a bus to the door of every pub from every house in Kerry, much to the annoyance of some deputies. However, I have not been deterred. Neither Mattie McGrath nor Danny Healy Rae will be allowed to obstruct reforms in local public transport plans. Nor similarly can they be permitted to sink life-saving legislation by filibustering and wasting Dáil time.

Closing

The long-term vision and planning for public transport needs to consider a range of financial, demographic, environmental, international (including Brexit), and regulatory challenges and policy considerations to ensure that public transport services and infrastructure can meet future transport needs and support sustainable economic growth and competitiveness. Government’s recently published Project Ireland 2040 sets out a detailed and positive vision for Ireland’s transport infrastructure over the next decade. The investment priorities set out in the National Development Plan will deliver a greener accessible public transport network that will provide high quality passenger interchange points, which facilitate convenient transfer between efficient and integrated public transport services that connect all parts of the country.

The challenge therefore is how we can as stakeholders across the public transport and related sectors, all work more collaboratively in the delivery of public transport in Ireland if we are to ensure that public transport continues to serve the needs of society and the economy.

I hope that today’s discussions will capture the breadth of the challenges ahead. I want this event to generate sound ideas that can help us address them; from meeting diverse passenger needs to alleviating congestion, from achieving sustainable public funding support to tackling climate challenges.

Thank you for your coming today and agreeing to participate and I look forward to hearing your views today. Let’s discuss what’s important for Ireland’s Public Transport Policy into the future.

Thank You.

Ends