[Article] Focus: The Duracell man whose plans went off the rails

Victor · 03-10-2004 11:46am #1

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-1291313,00.html

The Sunday Times - Ireland
October 03, 2004

Focus: The Duracell man whose plans went off the rails
Seamus Brennan’s successor will reap the rewards of his ideas. By Siobhan Maguire

As transport minister Seamus Brennan made more promises than most, but after two years in the job how many have been fulfilled? Scores of mission statements were aired in public during the “Duracell bunny’s” brief tenure, but few had been finalised by last Wednesday when Bertie Ahern gave Brennan the boot.
From a list of 64 promises made by Brennan since he took up office in June 2002, all but 10 fell by the wayside. Penalty points, five-year budgets for road building and public transport, €12m paid in hardship payments to victims of deregulation, taxi regulations and new sign systems in Dublin were among the few entries in Brennan’s credit column.

“He was an action man without the action,” said Roisin Shortall, Labour’s transport spokeswoman. “He marked up his ministry with a proliferation of press statements and announcements.”

Admittedly, the Dublin South minister did not survive long enough to see many of his projects through to fruition. Aer Rianta, the airports authority, was officially split in three on Friday, two days after Brennan left the job.

And, despite what his detractors say, Brennan can be credited as the first minister to tackle road safety.

The introduction of the penalty points system in November 2002 was his greatest triumph. Four motoring offences now carry points: speeding, no insurance, no seatbelt, and careless driving. The measures led to 75 fewer deaths on the roads last year, but implementation has been patchy at best and casualties are now back at pre-penalty-points levels.

The taxi industry was also improved during his reign. A taxi regulation bill was introduced last year and a national taxi council headed up by Pat Byrne, the former garda commissioner, was formed.

It is now compulsory for motorists to carry drivers’ licences in their vehicles — not that anybody ever checks. But a plan to introduce a credit-card-style licence, or notify drivers when their licences expire, was quietly dropped.

Brennan’s plans to break up CIE and reform Aer Rianta and Dublin Bus met with fierce trade union opposition. Luas, a hand-down from Mary O’Rourke, doubled in cost on his watch, and its first few weeks in operation have been marred by a series of crashes.

The Port Tunnel turned out to be too low for supertrucks to use, and Brennan dithered over whether to raise its height. The metro system never made it to the cabinet table.

“The metro, a ban on HGVs in Dublin’s city centre, a ban on mobile phones while driving, a computerised penalty points system, the list is endless,” said Denis Naughten, Fine Gael’s spokesman on transport. “The minister set out to revolutionise transport in this country. These promises experienced their own delays.”

Some of Brennan’s more adventurous promises included setting up a special traffic police corps, abolishing provisional licences, making taxi drivers wear a uniform while driving cabs of the one colour, and the privatisation of public transport. An idea to put Luas on stilts at the Red Cow roundabout — the M50 congestion flashpoint — was also mulled over in public, and then scrapped.

Members of his loyal team, who will depart transport for the social and family affairs department, point out that some Brennan promises will be fulfilled in the forthcoming months and in the new year. But Martin Cullen, Brennan’s successor, will reap the rewards.

The conversion of road signs to the metric system comes into effect on January 20. Contracts on 60 speed cameras have been tendered and will be written into legislation next month. The M1 motorway from Dublin to Dundalk will open next year. The Kildare bypass is under construction and Cashel’s bypass opens next week.

Conor Faughnan, spokesman for the Automobile Association, is a dedicated Brennan fan. “Seamus Brennan was great to work with and I found him excellent when it came to ideas to increase road safety in this country.”