Broughan calls for State to lead relaunched SR Technics
Issued : Sunday 29 March, 2009
Chairperson and Comrades,
I'd like to warmly thank the branches and trade union colleagues who have submitted motions for this morning's debate and all the members who attended our Labour Forum yesterday.
As the Willie Cremins, Kinnegad and Santry-Whitehall motions make clear, public transport services for commuters and workers all over the country are under unprecedented and savage attack. The Green Party's longstanding transport policies are now being shown up for what they truly are - empty promises and worthless rhetoric.
There has never been a greater need for the Labour Party to fulfil our unique role as the champions of sustainable public transport. Commuters, workers and businesses who depend completely on public transport can rely on no other party in or out of government to fully support and deliver universal public transport services for all of our citizens.
The vicious programme of bus cutbacks overseen by the Fianna Fail/Green government is set to impose swingeing cuts to inter-urban, urban and local bus services as outlined by the Santry-Whitehall branch. At a time when Dublin Bus and Bus Eireann fleets need to be maintained and expanded as Labour believes, Fianna Fail and the Greens are instead overseeing the loss of perhaps as many as 300 buses from both fleets. Key routes will be cancelled, peak time services curtailed and there will be across the board reductions in frequency times.
As our colleagues in the Willie Cremins branch highlight, these cutbacks will hammer hardest low income families and workers, senior citizens and other vulnerable citizens. Instead, Labour believes that commuters should be able to rely on even more frequent and dependable services and key commuter enhancements including fully integrated ticketing, a simpler and cheaper fare structures, and real time information at all bus stops and stations. I hope conference will also fully back the motion from the Willie Cremins' branch to reject the privatisation of key bus routes and services which will result in a cherrypicked and decimated service.
On Thursday next I will again ask Minister Noel Dempsey to outline the levels of transport investment funding for the rest of 2009 and down to 2014. High quality and efficient public transport networks and services provide massive and unassailable economic and social benefits. Abandoning public transport infrastructural projects under the National Development Plan and Transport 21 is a brazen attack on our established national transport, planning, environmental and climate change policies. Colleagues in the Kinnegad branch have rightly highlighted the importance of local infrastructural projects such as the Mullingar-Athlone railway line and the Killucan rail station. As our own Dublin North East motion demands, Labour will bitterly oppose a slash and burn approach to key public transport infrastructural projects under the NDP and T21.
A key result of developer-led planning of the last 12 years has been the almost total lack of integration between transport and planning for residential and commercial developments. The North East Ward motion highlights the valiant campaign by Deputy Michael D. Higgins and his Galway colleagues to keep Ceannt Station in public ownership as an integrated hub for all Galway transport services. Indeed, Labour believes that this model can and should be replicated all over Ireland.
The Roscommon South Leitrim motion notes that improvements to the rail service to Roscommon, Leitrim and Sligo have brought major benefits to Northwest commuters. But I believe there is huge scope for innovative development of our rail network. With just around 3% of the Irish rail network electrified, for example, why haven't the major rail arteries linking Cork and Dublin and Rosslare and Dublin been electrified? TSSA's motion shows how this government's record on developing rail freight is shameful. Astonishingly, 99% of all our imported goods are transported by road with just a 1% share for rail freight. Yet, we have the Green Party in government laying down key pledges on rail freight in their 2007 and earlier manifestos but once again doing nothing in government.
Pedestrians and cyclists continue to be often completely forgotten even with ongoing Green Party cycling hype and hypocrisy. Minister Dempsey has at last adopted our Labour target of 10% of all trips to be by bike by 2020. But we are still waiting for the long promised new national strategies on cyclists and pedestrians. The key cyclist and pedestrian safety, infrastructural and education measures which we have long advocated such as residential "Home Zones" must be immediately implemented to achieve a truly balanced and sustainable transport system.
Over the past 18 months I have met with taxi workers all over the country who have described how incomes and standards are collapsing in the industry. I told the Dail Transport Committee last week that just like our Financial Regulator, the Commission on Taxi Regulation has totally failed taxi workers and commuters. Labour wants a fresh start for taxis. We propose a new fair and strict system of taxi regulation to achieve the highest quality service for passengers as well as providing a decent, liveable income for all taxi workers through new rigorous entry, licensing and quality service standards and a new highly focused enforcement and regulatory regime. We also believe in the achievement of a truly wheelchair accessible fleet. Finally, there must be a new long term market demand evaluation mechanism for regulating the taxi sector and a temporary moratorium while the new framework is being established.
Labour remains fully committed to a competitive two major airline policy for Ireland and we will continue to reject any attempts to take over Aer Lingus as bad for passengers, bad for workers and bad for Ireland. We are also the only Party who have resolutely stood by the SR Technics workers at Dublin Airport and we are determined to do everything possible to protect the nearly 1200 SR jobs at this critical centre of excellence for aviation engineering at Dublin Airport. Let me renew my call this morning for Ministers Coughlan and Dempsey to fully protect the pensions and redundancy entitlements of the SRT workers, to purchase the SRT speciality tools and capital equipment and to direct the Dublin Airport Authority to make the SRT hangars available for a new commercial state enterprise or an enterprise with majority state shareholding supported by IDA Ireland.
Our national and regional ports play a critical, if often overlooked role in our nation's economic and social life and Labour believes that the ongoing neglect of our critical port infrastructure must end. We will continue to oppose attempts by Fianna Fail and the Greens to slash worker-director and councillor representation in the governance of our national ports in the new Harbours Bill.
Comrades and delegates, I am grateful for your contributions to this debate on our vital transport infrastructure. I look forward to working closely with you to develop policy in the Labour Transport Group and Labour's national role as the champion of sustainable public transport.
ENDS.
For more information contact Tommy Broughan at 087 288 0777
www.labour.ie/press
