A chara, - Denis Coughlan is surely missing the point when he describes the current state of transport and traffic policy (Opinion, August 15th) as a shambles.
While it is undoubtedly the case that the system cannot cope either with enforcement or the issue of new licences, the reasons for this go well beyond administrative procedures and backlogs. In fact, the entire transport infrastructure is groaning under the weight of the sheer numbers of cars and lorries attempting to avail of limited road space. Whether the drivers have licences or not does not change the fact of the situation: the rate of car ownership and usage is growing at an unsustainable rate, bringing with it an increasing contribution by road transportation to Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions.
It is estimated that the average car emits up to one tonne of Co2 a year. The latest figures from 1995 show that emissions from this sector amount to over 17 per cent of total CO2 emissions, but that this will rise by as much as 140 per cent by 2010. Under the Kyoto Protocol, Ireland must stabilise total greenhouse gas emissions to 13 per cent above 1990 levels by 2008-2012, a target which simply cannot be reached without a firm change in Government policy to reduce road traffic. This is quite apart from the nightmarish health and air quality scenario posed by such a dramatic increase in traffic on our streets.
Yet the only attempt (by Green Party TDs) to bring forward a Road Traffic Reduction Bill earlier this year was stymied by the Opposition parties and whips in the Dail who have so far refused to offer private members' time even for a first reading of the Bill. In stark contrast, the UK parliament recently passed a similar piece of legislation and is currently debating another Bill to make local authorities set firm targets for reducing road traffic by specific dates.
Earthwatch believes that we need to take the transport debate beyond issues relating to enforcement and traffic management, important though these are. We firmly believe that by requiring local authorities to reduce the volume of traffic and to tackle car dependency, we will be addressing the more fundamental need to move towards sustainability.
Let's hope that, when the next Dail session begins, Fianna Fail, the PDs, Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left can find the time to discuss what is potentially one of the most important pieces of environmental legislation to come before the Dail in many years. - Is mise, Sadhbh O Neill,
Campaigns Director,
Earthwatch,
Grove Road,
Rathmines,
Dublin 6.