Speech by Eugene McCague, Managing Partner Arthur Cox, in his capacity as Chair of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce Transport Committee

4pm 14.05.03

(14.05.03) Eugene McCague, Chair of Dublin Chamber’s Transport Committee has warned that Ireland is suffering long-term credibility damage as a result of inaction and bad management of it’s transport infrastructure.

In an address to The Irish Property and Facilities Management Conference, which took place today at the Herbert Park Hotel, he said: "The European Commission’s recent White Paper on Transport estimated that, across Europe, traffic congestion was costing up to 3% of member states annual GDP, in terms of lost time. If we apply that in an Irish context, we are looking at a cost to Ireland of something in excess of 3 billion euro a year.

"More worryingly, a number of international research institutes which benchmark the competitiveness of countries have recently downgraded Ireland’s rankings in the competitiveness stakes - not because of our tax or our labour costs, but because of what is perceived as our poor infrastructure.

"We have fallen from 5th to 10th in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook in the space of just two years, while the World Economic Forum has downgraded us to 24th from 11th place the previous year in their Growth Competitiveness Index.

" If we are to continue to be a favoured location for mobile international investment, who will increasingly look at more than just tax rates when making their decisions as to where to locate, then we have to get our transport system right - or at least to be seen to be getting it right."

Mr McCague outlined Dublin Chamber’s vision for transport in Dublin: "We would suggest a "one ticket, two journey, five minute wait" vision.

"In other words, it should be possible to get from any location in Dublin to another by public transport using at most two modes of transport, with one ticket valid for the total journey, and to wait no more than five minutes for any bus or train to arrive.

"If we consider that a realistic vision, then the DTO Strategy is the right one."

Mr McCague went on the praise the successes he saw as already having been achieved and also outlined the projects which will be going live in the next few years,

But adding a note of caution he warned: "There is a sense that key elements of the DTO strategy are being long fingered or, perhaps, even being quietly shifted off the table.

"The Metro project is already getting peculiar looks from the Department of Finance because of the estimated cost of €3.8 billion, and rising

"The Eastern Bypass is no nearer to getting a green light now than when the Dublin Chamber of Commerce first lobbied for it in 1991.

"And while Minister Seamus Brennan has ambitious plans to shake up the Dublin bus market, the CIE unions do not appear to share this view ,and progress may be slower than what is planned."

"In summary, the DTO Strategy is still on the table, but looking less secure in its implementation than when it was first published in the heady days of the Celtic Tiger."

ENDS