IBEC - Newsroom

IBEC, the group that represents Irish business, today hosted a major sustainable transport conference with the Department of Transport in Dublin Castle, which highlighted the need for infrastructure investment to remain a priority, notwithstanding the challenging economic circumstances.

Addressing the conference, IBEC President Tom Noonan said poor transport links and congestion remained a major problem for business. According to recent IBEC research, 54% of companies say that congestion is negatively affecting their profitability.

“Significant progress has been made in the last decade, but more work is needed. Despite an 11% cut in capital expenditure for transport infrastructure in April's supplementary budget, we still have a €34 billion Transport 21 plan in place, which is the envy of many competing countries.

“The challenge now is to balance the long-term need for better, more sustainable infrastructure, with the need to take immediate steps to stabilise the economy and protect jobs. These pressing concerns may ultimately lead to a partial reduction in the planned infrastructure budget to provide necessary enterprise supports. It is vital that we make the right choices and get the balance right.

“Ireland will not fully reap the rewards of an eventual global economic upturn if our transport links remain inadequate. Major investment to improve the transport networks must continue and more use must be made of public transport,” said Mr Noonan.

The conference looked at how other countries had succeeded in addressing their transport problems. This included a major drive to deliver an integrated transport system in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands, which resulted in a massive shift from private car to public transport. Limburg has a population of 1.2 million people, incorporating the cities of Maastricht and Heerlen. In one year, Limburg saw bus patronage increase by 29%.

“If such a system were applied in Dublin, we would see over 30 million more passengers per year on Dublin Bus alone. At a time when Ireland is paying €100 million for carbon credits, an investment in public transport to reduce our carbon emissions certainly seems wise,” concluded Mr Noonan.

Today’s conference is focusing on four areas:

1. A new transport future for Ireland;
2. Congestion and sustainable transport;
3. Improving society and enhancing safety through transport developments;
4. Implementation of the Government’s Smarter Travel initiative.