Minister relishes the road ahead - bumps and all

MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT, SEAMUS BRENNAN: Drawing lines on a map is easy but new Transport Minister Seamus Brennan is the man who has to deliver a proper infrastructure. He tells John McManus how he sees the task ahead

Twenty years ago an aspiring politician attended a public meeting in South Dublin to lobby for a ring motorway around the capital. Sometime next year the same politician and newly-appointed Minister for Transport Seamus Brennan expects to preside over the opening of the final section of the M50 - the South Eastern Motorway from Sandyford to Loughlinstown.

The irony of all this is not lost on the new Minister as he sits in the ministerial office suite on Kildare Street, recently vacated by Ms Mary O'Rourke. It is also central to what he sees as his key task.

"It is shortening the gap between deciding we are going to have that railway, or that road and the delivery of it," he says. The turnaround period for major road projects is down from 20 years to four or five years and the new Minister has set himself the objective of reducing that to two or three years.

"My overriding feeling at the moment is that we are not that short of strategies. In fact, we have strategies and tactics coming out our ears. I see my job as implementation... to drive ahead and implement the plans," he says.

A more immediate task is establishing the newly-created Department of Transport which sees the National Roads Authority come under the same roof as the State bodies dealing with aviation and transport, including Aer Lingus, Aer Rianta and CIÉ. .

"My first priority is to bed down the new Department and put some focus on it - to make sure that everyone in the Department realises that you can't grow the economy if you don't have a strong infrastructure programme.

"The first thing I want to do is make sure that everybody in the Department understands that and that they see their role as providing the arteries for the blood to flow through the economy," he says with a rhetorical flourish.

Once that has been done the Minister can get on with the small matter of "delivering motorways; dual carriageways; secondary roads; opening up the regions; delivering railways; an efficient public transport system; making sure the Luas comes in on time; making sure the Metro is finished and providing efficient airports".

The common thread in all of this is congestion posits an undaunted Mr Brennan.

"My job is using whatever agencies I have, whatever authority I have, whatever funds I can get my hands on, to make sure that as a matter of urgency we make the investment and get delivery," he explains.

Getting his hands on the billions needed to deliver all that has been promised by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats is seen as the real challenge facing Mr Brennan. He claims that he has no guarantees that it will be forthcoming.

"I was told by the Taoiseach that he was setting up a new Department. That it was to be a major economic ministry to tee up Ireland for economic growth in the next five to 10 years. The success of this Department was crucial to that and therefore - subject to economic constraints - I would have the resources that I need," he explains.

Money probably won't be the problem at the end of the day, he predicts. "Getting the projects done is now more of a constraint than the money," he says. This is particularly the case with the national roads programme where projects have been held up by local issues and a dispute with farmers over land purchases.

Mr Brennan claims he is "sensitive" to the environmental issue, but "also determined that Ireland's infrastructure should be a 21st century infrastructure".

"No country in the world has found a way of building motorways that does not disturb the environment, but I think we can deal with that," he says.

The whole area of the compulsory purchase of land for road building will also have to be revisited, with a view to speeding up the process. "If special legislation is needed in some of these areas then we have to have it," he says.

Central to the funding of the roads programme will be the new National Development Finance Agency.

He is optimistic that the new agency - which can raise funds outside of the Exchequer for capital projects - will be in place shortly. He claims the agency was not an election gimmick and has the support of the Department of Finance, which means it should get off the ground quickly.

Less than a week in the job, Mr Brennan understandably prefers to paint in broad brush strokes, but he will quickly have to confront a number of specific problems, the most pressing of which is Aer Lingus.

Although he supports the survival plan being implemented by the State airline's management he has signalled a possible re-think on the issue of part-privatisation.

"As the months go on and I am satisfied that we have a strong Aer Lingus and that the survival plan is working, then I will talk to all the interested parties about the future of the company and what is right for the country and the company. But at this point am I not going to discuss it with anyone," he says.

CIÉ is also likely to quickly demand the Minister's attention. But he is reluctant to comment on the commitment in the Programme to review the 1932 Transport Act. Progressive Democrat sources have claimed this is essentially the green light to end Dublin Bus's monopoly and will see private operators on the city streets shortly.

The Minister is adamant that he will not get involved in the operational management of the State companies in his bailiwick, something that his predecessor was regularly accused of doing, particularly in industrial relations at CIÉ.

"It is not my job to manage these companies. But I act on behalf of the shareholder and on behalf of the taxpayer. If they are being affected I won't hesitate to step in. My first instinct would be to support the boards and the jobs they are doing. I won't undermine management that is not my job," he says.

Mr Brennan sees his role as setting policy guidelines for the State company and one new guideline will be music to the ears of State company management.

Last Tuesday's Cabinet meeting - the first attended by Mr Brennan in his new capacity - dealt at length with the issue of public sector pay.

It was made clear to the Cabinet by Finance Minister Mr McCreevy that controlling public sector pay was now a priority and every Minister and Department had to hold the line.

"The national interest is that we retain a tight grip on the pay situation and any objective person will see that we can't keep going at this pace," he says.

The third commercial State company that comes within Mr Brennan's remit is Aer Rianta and once the holiday season gets into full swing the annual debate about facilities at Dublin Airport will no doubt resurface.

Once again it is an issue of delivery believes Mr Brennan. "We are going to build pier D, Aer Rianta are going ahead with that and we are committed in the Programme for Government to examine the possibility of a privately-owned terminal," he says.

Another issue that may resurface is the sale by Aer Rianta of its Great Southern Hotels subsidiary. This was mooted by the last Government but effectively blocked by the independent TD from Kerry, Mr Jackie Healy-Rae on whose support the Government depended.

It was a debate that Mr Brennan was well aware of given his previous role as Government Chief Whip, which involved liaising with independent deputies.

"I don't have any proposals to do that. I don't have any strong views on that but I have no doubt the independent deputy in question has strong views on it and he did make them known at the time."

Mr Brennan claims to have a pragmatic approach to the whole issue of selling State companies, even if the proceeds are intended for his projects.

"If I thought about it over the years, on balance I believe that the State should not be involved in commercial activities that it doesn't have to be involved in," says the Minister.

"I don't have an ideological hang up about it. I genuinely don't. I want to make sure we do what is right for the companies and the country. Sometimes that will mean privatisation, sometimes that will mean remaining in State ownership."

Mr Brennan claims that his real objective is simply to make things work better. "If at the end of my term in office I can look back and say we made the systems work better rather than got ourselves bogged down in arguments about structures and debates about who owns what I will be happy," he says.

Mr Brennan is clearly pleased to be back at the Cabinet table this week as a Minister, after five years soldiering away as Chief Whip. "The Chief Whip is very constrained. You are dealing with organisational matters. It was great to have the full stripes and to be able to speak my mind. I plan to take a lively part," he warns.