[Article] Callelly drives new Dublin agenda

Victor

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Callelly drives new Dublin agenda
14/11/04 00:00
By Niamh Connolly

It is a supreme irony that a TD who steadfastly opposed the single most pro-consumer policy of the past decade - the liberalisation of the taxi industry - is now the junior minister for transport.

But Ivor Callely is unrepentant.

In the public's mind, the northside Fianna Fáil deputy may have fought a politically dubious campaign in defending the vested interests of a small group of taxi drivers.

But Callely learned as a councillor that the taximen were a valuable, not to mention vocal, source of electoral support.

For weeks before any election, many of Dublin's taxis carried advertisements for him. Come election day, they were willing to ferry older voters to the polling stations.

As far back as 1996, Callely persuaded the city council to overturn its own decision to grant 200 more taxi licences.

Observers believe that if taxi drivers at this stage had accepted the more modest reform, the overnight deregulation of the industry - driven through by the former PD Minister for the Environment Bobby Molloy - might have been avoided.

"We had the opportunity to put in place an appropriate network of public service vehicles and the way we went about doing our business was wrong. An overnight decision by minister Molloy was wrong and I still believe it was wrong,'' Callely told The Sunday Business Post.

"We now have a question mark over standards, the calibre of drivers and there have been criminals and rogues involved in the industry.

"We also find we have to bring in a regulator, after deregulation of the market. I'm quite satisfied we could have done better," he said.

Callely has already met all the taxi representative groups. "I've indicated that I want to deal with some of the issues out there," he said.

A poll-topper in Dublin North Central in 1997, and second in 2002, the 46-year-old junior minister is regarded as one of the hardest working TDs in the Dáil and is not short on ambition.

His remit, which includes Dublin traffic, the haulage industry, transport disability issues and the Irish Aviation Authority, is being taken on with considerable energy, and not a little pragmatism.

By all accounts, what is achievable in the next two years will be the over-arching theme of the transport minister Martin Cullen's administration, particularly in the run-up to the next general election.

Cullen has already had a number of positive meetings with the trade unions and appears to be on course for a more visible partnership approach than his predecessor.

The radical policies championed by his predecessor, Seamus Brennan, such as the break-up of CIE, may not be high on Cullen's agenda.

Brennan paid the ultimate price for dancing to a different ideological tune to Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, especially where it affected Ahern's constituents in north Dublin, such as those who worked in Aer Rianta and Aer Lingus at Dublin airport.

Callely's eyes and ears will prove especially useful for Ahern, as a repeat of Fianna Fáil's local election performance would mean disaster in the 2007 general election.

Callely himself is quick to stress his own northside credentials.

"The Taoiseach appointed a northside TD to transport, and he is aware that I have expressed publicly my interest in Aer Lingus, as I recognise the importance Aer Lingus has on the northside of the city," he said.

"It's up to me to contribute and to try to inform the Taoiseach on those projects that are worth pursuing," he said.

So does Callely believe the privatization of Aer Lingus will be as vigorously pursued by Cullen as it was by Brennan?

"There is room for a pause on the issue of privatisation, disposal, sale or merger. Prior to the Goldman Sachs report, the Taoiseach indicated that Aer Lingus was not going to be sold off, but that various options would be considered," he said.

"There's probably not the same level of urgency as minister Brennan indicated in the past. The aviation business has peaks and valleys."

The Goldman Sachs report advised that a private placement and flotation of the airline would lead to a decline in the airline's value.

Global market conditions such as the spiralling price of oil are conspiring against value for money for the exchequer in any private placement.

The cabinet appears to favour a private placing over a flotation as it would allow the state to retain a share of between 25 and 30 per cent, which could be used to exert influence over the airline's valuable slots at Heathrow airport in London.

The metro remains a project close to the heart of most Dubliners, but the Taoiseach is worried about the €2.4 billion cost.

Iarnród Éireann's alternative proposal for an underground interconnector from Heuston to Spencer Dock and a cheaper DART spur to the airport is now gaining ground.

Callely supports the Metro in principle but acknowledges the Taoiseach's cost concern - mainly that the bulk of the national transport budget would be absorbed by another Dublin-based project.

"The Taoiseach indicated that we could not use all the resources of the state on a metro system, but the programme could commence, or at least aspects of it, without using up all the infrastructural spend that is available," said Callely.

"The metro's line would hit a satellite town such as Swords, as well as Dublin Airport, Dublin City University, the Mater Hospital, Beaumont Hospital, [and would] link with the Luas lines and the heart of the city. I can see the merit in this proposal."

The metro to the airport would boost development in north Dublin and offer a new commuter line from Swords to the city centre for the growing population in the north of the county.

Iarnród Éireann's rail plan would link rapidly-expanding suburban towns to the west and north of Dublin with the city centre and Spencer Dock.

A connection linking the two Luas lines - and running between St Stephen's Green and O'Connell Street via Dawson Street and College Green - is proving controversial, though Callely stresses it has "not been cast in stone''.

Critics say it would cause major disruption of traffic and offer little value in added capacity or urban development.

"There is a view within this department that the Red and Green lines should connect. It's now a matter of finding that route. We intend to go with a Luas to Spencer Dock and the Point Depot, so we could find a route that would link up," said Callely.

The railings of Trinity College would have to be removed for Cullen's proposed connection, but an issue more pressing for taxpayers is whether a cost-benefit analysis of this route would stand up to scrutiny.

Up to 55 million Dublin Bus passengers would be disrupted to accommodate 6.5 million Luas passengers, according to the bus company. Yet, the tram's purpose was to entice motorists to public transport, not reshuffle passengers from Dublin Bus to Luas.

Callely is backing proposals from Dublin Bus for a shuttle bus linking the two lines for Operation Freeflow, the traffic flow system for the city which starts on November 29. He said the service could continue on a long-term basis.

"While my colleagues are talking about 10 to 12 years for metro, and four years for a Luas link-up, I'm anxious to try and get the mix of public transport connections and an integrated system in place," he said.

Victor

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Callely to rethink supertrucks decision
14/11/04 00:00
By Niamh Connolly

The junior minister for transport, Ivor Callely, is reconsidering his predecessor Jim McDaid's decision to impose a blanket bank on so-called 'supertrucks'.

The Dublin North Central TD, who was given responsibility for haulage in the cabinet reshuffle, said he was re-opening the debate on a height restriction for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).

"I am not approaching this from the same side as Jim McDaid,'' Callely said.

McDaid supported a blanket ban on trucks exceeding Dublin Port tunnel's height of 4.6 metres.

However, all new inter-city motorway bridges are built to a five-metre standard. Hauliers said transport and consumer costs would increase if trucks were limited to 4.6 metres.

"I have been asked to impose a height restriction on HGVs and have clearly said that I will be approaching this with an open mind," said Callely.

"I am prepared to await the outcome of a public consultation process with all the stakeholders before making that decision. Maybe in years gone by there was a need for a height restriction, but I am going to be open, balanced and fair in my approach," he said.

Callely said there were many questions to be considered.

"Is a specific height limit necessary, and if so, what should it be? Iarnrod Eireann and the National Roads Authority would have a difference on this," he said.

A number of avenues could be explored to resolve the problem of vehicles striking low railway bridges in areas outside the main motorway routes.

Trucks could now be fitted with global positioning systems to map out safe routes, he said.

The Minister for Transport, Martin Cullen, recently said a change in the height restriction plans was unlikely. However, Callely said he was not aware of the minister's comments.

"All I know is that I'm the person in charge of vehicle height. My position is that I'm going into consultation as outlined," he said.

The Irish Road Haulage Association president Eamonn Morrissey welcomed Callely's comments, which follow a recent meeting.

Morrissey said 70 per cent of railway bridges had been struck by vehicles that were even lower than the Dublin Port Tunnel.