In the last of our series on key influencers on Irish roads and traffic policy, Barry McCall profiles Róisín Shortall, Labour's transport spokesperson, and Cyril McHugh, chief executive of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry
CYRIL McHUGH: Among the more powerful voices in the Irish motoring lobby is that of the Society for the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), the representative body for just about the whole industry from petrol retailers, to parts wholesalers, and main dealers to importers and distributors. SIMI chief executive Cyril McHugh is a far cry from some of the shrill voices heard on behalf of other sectoral interest bodies.
A former civil servant, he joined SIMI as chief executive in 1992: his 11 years at the helm have been characterised by quiet lobbying and some considerable successes. An early success was convincing the then finance minister Ruairi Quinn to introduce the first scrappage scheme. This succeeded in raising new car sales from under 70,000 annually to almost 90,000 during the mid-1990s.
He was also instrumental in having VRT rates cut in 1994 and still points to the fact that this demonstrated that government revenues are actually increased by tax reductions.
A strong backer of the Government's roads programme, he accepts that tolling may have to be used for some roads - but only if they are equitable and removed once the road has been paid for. He points out that if all of the various motoring taxes were devoted to roads we would have a top-class infrastructure in place already
He flatly rejects any claims that there are too many cars on Irish roads and has consistently pointed to the example of Holland, a country the size of Munster, with six times the number of cars on its roads but no real congestion.
At just 55 years of age, his will remain a strong voice in Irish transport policy making for some years to come.
RÓISÍN SHORTALL: First elected on the "Spring Tide" of 1992 to represent the Dublin North West constituency Labour's transport spokesperson Roisin Shortall is a seasoned Dáil performer - which certainly helps when "marking" Seamus Brennan.
Unsurprisingly, given her party background, she is an avowed supporter of public transport solutions to traffic and transport problems. She complained bitterly about the recent Budget allocation for public transport, saying that it was "equal to only one-third of the amount given to roads, at a time when the mid-term review of the National Development Plan showed a serious under spend in public transport in Dublin and the BMW region." Another supporter of a dedicated traffic corps, she also leads calls for additional spending on bus priority measures including quality bus corridors for Dublin and additional buses.