[Article] - Dublin councillors call for transport accountability

[Mark Hennessy]

Having the traveling public represented directly would be more preferable than a councilor in my opinion.

http://www.sbpost.ie/post/pages/p/st...483-qqqx=1.asp

Dublin councillors call for transport accountability
23 March 2008 By Niamh Connolly, Political Reporter
Dublin city councillors have urged transport minister Noel Dempsey not to create a ‘‘HSE for transport’’ with no accountability, when he publishes legislation to establish the Dublin Transport Authority (DTA).

Tom Mulcahy, chairman-elect of the proposed DTA, attended a meeting of the Dublin Regional Authority last week to discuss the planned body, which is charged with integrating all public transport in the capital. The elected representatives have criticised Mulcahy’s failure to meet them since he was appointed more than a year ago.

Mulcahy, who is chairman of the Railway Procurement Agency (RPA) with responsibility for the Luas, expressed a desire to see a strong body with real powers, according to councillors who attended the meeting.




The meeting heard calls for the DTA to include elected representatives and for the minister to avoid an ‘‘HSE form of structure, controlled by expert groups with no accountability to the public’’.

Labour Party councillor Dermot Lacey said the new authority should have powers to direct the various transport bodies, and not just coordinate.

‘‘The last thing we need is a ‘HSE for transport’ that is unaccountable, and out-of-touch and reach of the people,� Lacey said. ‘‘In the case of the DTA, the problem is that if we get it wrong, we won’t be able to get it right for a long time.�

The new authority was proposed in 2004, but the DTA Bill remains unpublished, due to government delays and reluctance to agree the authority’s new powers by transport agencies, such as CIE, the RPA and the Dublin Transportation Office. A spokeswoman for Dempsey said the bill was expected to be published when the Dáil resumed after the Easter break.