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.�
