When the Taoiseach announced the establishment of the new Department of Transport last June he promised that the building of a "modern, quality transport network" would be best achieved under a single dedicated department. Patrick Logue reports.
Seamus Brennan, the man in charge of making the Taoiseach's words a reality, noted shortly after his appointment that we had "strategies and tactics coming out our ears" and that his main function would be implementation.
And implement he did. Brennan will probably always be remembered as the Minister who finally introduced a penalty points system for offending motorists. Road death numbers have declined and mumblings from the insurance industry seem to point to reduced premiums down the line.
But it hasn't all been good. By August last, less than three months after the formation of the Government, an unholy row had erupted between Brennan and Dublin City Council which erected colour-coded signs directing motorists around "inner" and "outer" routes of the city. Brennan, attempting to enforce his authority, said the signs were misleading and was none too impressed at the lack of consultation with his Department. The signs came down. The Dublin Transportation Office (DTO) got involved too by withholding funds because of it too had reservations about the scheme.
At this stage the Taoiseach's vision of a single dedicated department taking control of the situation seemed to be just that: a vision.
An array of agencies still have responsibilities in the area of transport policy in the State; the Department itself, the National Roads Authority (NRA), the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA), the Dublin Transport Office (DTO), local authorities, and operating companies such as CIE and Dublin Bus. Such a range of agencies has sparked moves from political parties to streamline the division of responsibilities.
Last week the Green Party attempted to introduced the National Transport Authority Bill aimed at providing a single agency to handle public transport and road building issues.
The party's transport spokesman Eamonn Ryan explains he envisages the amalgamation of the National Roads Authority (NRA) and the Rail Procurement Agency (RPA).
"We believe a central agency could analyse how best to move people and goods. The NRA and the RPA are working separately," Ryan says. "What is happening is the NRA is getting all the funding and public transport is losing out," he adds.
Ryan - who concedes that the creation of the Department of Transport was a welcomed development - says both the NRA and the RPA are currently engaged in providing links between the State's five major cities and Dublin. "One agency would assist the Minister for Transport by providing one priority listing."
In other words the new agency would decide if a rail option was preferable to a road option, visa versa, or it may decide that both options are necessary.
Fine Gael's Denis Naughten also called for a "traffic or transit authority combining the functions of the array of agencies currently dealing with the issue."
Naughten told Motors "no one is happy with the NRA" adding that there was unease at the level of accountability to the Oireachtas.
That issue is addressed in the NRA's annual review which is due to be published shortly. It says the Authority "regularly meets with public representatives, including attending at local authority meetings, and with other sectoral groups to discuss and clarify national road related issues."
The NRA head of corporate affairs Michael Egan believes his agency has been successful in providing a national focus with regard to road building. He says that since the NRA was set up in 1994 local authorities have lost some of the decision-making power. A welcomed development, he says.
"We were set up to set a national view and to take it away from the political arena. Politicans can come under pressure, but the Authority is removed from these types of influence."
Egan says that, although the NRA is directly accountable to the Minister for Transport, it does retain autonomy on implementing the broad strategy and objectives of Government.
"Projects are carried out by the local authorities under the supervision of the National Roads Authority," Egan adds.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny clearly believes this power is too far-reaching. In a recent newspaper article he suggested the NRA should be abolished and power relinquished back to local councillors.
Opposition frustration and calls for radical overhauls such as this is understandable. Last month Seamus Brennan said the road building element of the National Development Plan would take up to three years than the deadline of 2006 citing "rising costs and the changed economic and budgetary circumstances".
In the meantime an Interdepartmental Working Group, with representatives from the Departments of Transport, Environment and Finance was formed in December to address the shortfalls in the delivery in the areas of housing and roads. The group is due to report shortly. The question is: will another report have any real effect?
In Dublin, the by-now infamous debacle of the signs is testimony to a wider problem of responsibility. However, a spokesman for the Dublin Transport Office (DTO), which acts in a similar manner to the NRA, says it works "hand in glove" with Dublin City Council and that "things are a bit more streamlined" since the Department of Transport was set up.
Seamus Brennan operates an "open door, open ear approach. He has no problem with us pitching ideas at him," the spokesman adds.
But what about implementation? One of the capital's long-running major transport initiatives, the Luas light rail system, has been the subject of frequent delays, adding to the misery of motorists and commuters alike.
It now seems Luas will not be operating until the middle of next year.
The good news is that progress may be around the corner. The Programme for Government published last June proposes the establishment of the Greater Dublin Land Use and Transport Authority which the DTO says would "facilitate the further development of strategic land use and transportation planning functions, including those currently carried out by the Dublin Transportation Office."