Minister Donohoe urges public to make views known on land transport investment in Ireland

· Four weeks of public consultation process remain

Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe, T.D, has today (Thursday) urged interested parties to make their views on future investment in land transport known as the closing date for public consultation approaches. Minister Donohoe underlined the need for an informed debate on future investment decisions and encouraged those with an interest in the area to make submissions before October 16th .

Minister Donohoe said: ‘Last month a strategic framework for investment in land transport was published, with submissions sought from the public to help determine the priorities and principles which will guide future land transport investment decisions. The findings and conclusions of this work will contribute to the development of a new multi-annual capital funding framework spanning from 2015-2019, as well as subsequent capital funding programmes. The work also considers investment requirements up until 2040 and so will contribute to investment decisions over the long term’.

“The report concludes that the key challenge, where investment in land transport is concerned, is in securing investment levels which will support a transport network that can meet the economic and social needs of the country. Perhaps the most striking message is the scale of the gap between available funding and the level of investment that is needed to maintain the existing transport network. Given such constraints, we have to ensure that all transport investment is focused and prioritised to secure the most advantageous outcomes for our economy and our people. We must also be alert to the fact that underinvestment in transport adversely impacts on our competitiveness, our potential for economic growth, and the welfare of our citizens”.

“This report points to the current constraints within which policy decisions must be made. It is intended to initiate an informed, and much needed, debate about the decisions to be made in respect of current and future transport investment in Ireland. I strongly urge interested parties to participate in the public consultation process, and to make their views heard, before the closing date of 16th October”.

Key areas of work undertaken and considered by the steering group in drawing up the report include:
– The link between economic growth and transport investment, and the return on previous investment in an Irish context;

– Current transport investment levels relative to past funding levels and international norms;

– Establishing the funding necessary to maintain, manage and renew the existing land transport infrastructure to keep it at its current standard (the ‘steady state’), together with capital commitments; and,

– The scale and nature of transport demand in the medium to long-term and the impact of such demand on our network.

The framework documents and its associated environmental documents are available for download at http://www.dttas.ie/corporate/publications/english/public-consultation-investing-our-transport-future or to view at the Department’s Leeson Lane offices. The consultation process provides interested parties with an opportunity to contribute before the framework is published later this year. Submissions should be sent to [email protected]/* */ by Thursday 16th of October..