IBEC's '10 key facts on our infrastructure'

ishmael whale

This ’10 key facts’ material comes from an IBEC submission. Its interesting as an attempt to put a context on what’s required.

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=9&si=1318454&issue_id=11933

10 key facts on our infrastructure

* Population to pass 5m over next 15 years, an increase of 25pc. Almost 80pc of this growth will be in the greater Dublin region.
* Under the National Development Plan (NDP), Ireland received over €3.7bn from the EU. It is most unlikely that EU funding for infrastructure will be available in the future.
* Government spending on critical infrastructure declined by 11.5pc in 2004 compared to 2003. (Department of Finance)
* Ireland ranked 15th out of 16 countries surveyed in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of our transport and energy infrastructure. (IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook)
* Ireland's stock of infrastructure is declining. We ranked 11th out of 12 countries surveyed. (National Competitiveness Council)
* Our current motorway density ranked 11th out of 12, according to a recent EU report. By the end of 2006, 32pc of the NDP national roads programme will remain incomplete. (Fitzpatrick Economic Consultants, mid-term review of the NDP)
* Construction of the M50 motorway began in 1985. The 35km route will not be complete until later this year.
* 90pc of our household waste is sent to landfill dumps. The EU average is 20pc.
* Local authorities say 46 major items of infrastructure are required to tackle our waste crisis. To date fewer than 10 of these projects have commenced. (Regional Waste Management Plans 2001)

LFCFan

ie. Ireland Sucks at Infrastructure!

Flukey

We all know that, it is doing something about it and doing it on a proper time scale for a proper cost that has always been a problem. The 1985 start date to the M50 and it still being unfinished is proof of that, and there are many more like that.

Capt'n Midnight

Flukey wrote:

The 1985 start date to the M50 and it still being unfinished is proof of that, and there are many more like that.

Don't forget the third lane...

Flukey

More public transport. They should actually also have some sort of rail line with a similar route to the M50. So the in effect the Luas extension to Cherrywood should go to the Wexford line and should also continue past Sandyford on a ring, linking all the outer suburbs, connecting to the start of the other Luas line and continuing on out towards the airport. You could then take a lot of the commuters coming from the southside and heading towards the industrial estates and workplaces that are along the M50. Along with the two existing lines into the city centre there could then be other built off this c ring line, like the Ballymun line etc. Now if this was being done in any other part of Europe that could all be done in a few years, efficiently and at reasonable cost. Instead, by the time it would all have been done elsewhere, they'd be still redrawing the plans here!:(

Victor

Oh, they forget one thing - IBEC companies are providing most of this infrastructure at inflated prices.

JupiterKid

Don't forget that Ireland had a third world transport infrastructure from Independence right up until the 1990s. Our roads system, for example, is about 35 to 40 years behind the rest of the Western world. Germany started building its famed Autobahn system in the 1930s. The UK and France started their motorways in the 1950s. We in Ireland only got our act together in the last 10 to 15 years. So we've decades and decades of playing catch up to do.

Public transport investment is not enough - our trains are too overcrowded and slow. And our environmental infrastructure - recycling centres, windfarms etc. is totally abysmal.

Victor

JupiterKid wrote:

Don't forget that Ireland had a third world transport infrastructure from Independence right up until the 1990s.

I'm sorry, but infrastructure was quite OK at independence.

Schuhart

Victor wrote:

I'm sorry, but infrastructure was quite OK at independence.

What did the Romans ever do for us.

spacetweek

JupiterKid wrote:

And our environmental infrastructure - recycling centres, windfarms etc. is totally abysmal.

Eh?

Transport21 Fan

Victor wrote:

I'm sorry, but infrastructure was quite OK at independence.

we also had a fully integrated public transport system as well and the Free State Government made huge investment in electricity, peat bogs, water and ports.

Then Dev came into power and the barefoot dancing started.

markpb

JupiterKid wrote:

Don't forget that Ireland had a third world transport infrastructure from Independence right up until the 1990s.

Is it any better now? What about the cities?

parsi

Hmm.. IBEC (and it's more truculent brother ISME) could help by ensuring that excessive packaging can be left at the retailers premises rather than making sure folk bring it home...

IBE says we (meaning their members) are taxed too high and we (the workers) are paid too much. So how do they envisage the country paying for all their infrastructural demands ?

murphaph

That tosser dev has a lot to answer for alright. Ardnacrusha remained the largest civil project for how many years? That man drove us BACK into the dark ages.