Ireland outstrips UK on Tens spend

On the periphery of Europe, Ireland like no other EU Member State needs high quality road, rail and sea corridors to get its product to market. But what happens when our near-neighbours fail in their EU obligations, by neglecting to invest in key transport infrastructure?

Since 1998, with the unveiling of the first National Development Plan (NDP) Ireland has set about catching up with the rest of Europe in terms of transport infrastructure.
It has been a long and tortuous road, with many pitfalls, but progress is being made right across the roads network

Some eight years later, despite the fact that many projects ran over budget, ran into legal quagmires, and took longer to complete than expected, Ireland's roads expanded and upgraded network is beginning to take shape.
It will probably take another eight years, before the country's roads network begins to resemble that of many of our EU counterparts, but even the Government’s most ardent critics would have to admit that progress is being made.

What many forget is that Ireland’s new motorways and dual carriageways also help our EU neighbours to get their products to market in Ireland, just as they help Ireland to export to the EU and beyond.
However, it would appear that the UK is failing in its EU commitments to invest in its road, rail and sea corridors, judging by a report published by the Irish Business & Employers Conference (IBEC), which was published recently.

The reports’ conclusions are surprising, and make interesting reading, especially for Irish hauliers that use the UK as a gate to continental Europe and beyond.
IBEC says that continuing under investment in key road, rail and sea corridors by the UK government is impacting on the ability of Irish businesses to reach EU markets. The report reveals the relatively low level of UK investment in vital transport routes, which the EU has identified as key to European trade.
It may seem hard to believe, but Ireland has been outperforming the UK in terms of its commitment to the EU’s Trans-European Networks (TENS) links that cross the UK and connect Ireland to the continent.
A detailed analysis by IBEC the IBEC revealed that:

- Since 1996 the UK invested only €0.75m per km in the most important freight route from Ireland to the continent (linking the ports of Stranraer and Holyhead to the port of Felixstowe on the east coast of England). This compares with €4m per km on the same corridor in the Republic (TENS road corridor 13).
- The UK has invested virtually nothing since 1996 on the main rail corridor linking Ireland to the continent, compared to €2.1 billion (or €5m per km) invested on the connecting rail section in the Republic. The investment deficit on this corridor is €2.6 billion, of which €2.1 billion relates to UK. (TENS rail corridor 26).
A key problem that the European Commission has failed to address is the operation of UK Treasury rules in respect of TENS funding for the devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In the UK all funding is directed to the central Exchequer, with no additional money going to the devolved administrations beyond existing centrally allocated budgets. This means the devolved regions, have little funding and less incentive to live up to the obligations under the TENS programme.

IBEC Transport Director, Reg McCabe commented: "If all EU governments took this approach when allocating EU funding to regions, the entire process would be rendered null and void. There is little incentive for the devolved UK administrations to pursue EU transport funding. This has led to an under investment in vital transport links, leaving Irish importers and exporters with substandard access to continental markets.”
The IBEC analysis is based on a 2005 European Commission report that details the investment spend across the EU on the TENS strategic transport network.

With regard to the road links between the Republic and Northern Ireland, the IBEC reports shows reasonable growth with flow increasing from 30,000 vehicles in 1994 to just under 60,000 in 2004 - representing an average annual growth rate of 7%.
For the first time, the IBEC report compares North-South traffic flow to East-West traffic flow on the island.
The comparison indicated that East-West flow has consistently exceeded North-South since 1994 - and in some years by a substantial margin.

Despite this the cross-border economic and investment spotlight has been concentrated primarily on the North-South axis, with a particular focus on the M1 and Dublin Belfast economic corridor.
The IBEC reports also concludes that cross border traffic volumes are at a high level, when compared with other European economies that share a land border:
- Scotland-England: 60,000 vehicles per day
- Norway-Sweden: 30,000 vehicles per day
- Republic of Ireland - Northern Ireland: 60,000 vehicles per day

This high flow level is partly due to traffic from the Republic crossing the North to reach Donegal.
Looking at spending plans on roads in the Republic versus Northern Ireland, the report concludes that out of an overall infrastructure budget of €53 billion for the two administrations, the Republic of Ireland road spend represents 26% of the total compared to only 7% for the North.
To assist in overcoming the North's road investment shortfall, IBEC proposes using public private partnerships to fund key routes - such as the Letterkenny-Derry-Belfast road corridor.
Upgrading of this entire route to motorway standard is an important priority for the regional economy in the North West.

Mr McCabe added: "Over many decades, the road networks North and South have undergone a process of parallel but separate development. This has adversely impacted on economic performance and quality of life on both sides of the border, particularly in the North West region.”
This, according to McCabe, has had a dramatic impact on the North West. He explained: "For the region generally, the geographic reality of relative isolation from economic centres has been magnified in terms of its social and economic effects by poor road infrastructure. It is vital that the prevailing 'parallel but separate' roads policy be consigned to history.”

Arrangements need to be put in place that will allow the administrations, North and South, to pursue a new, shared vision on roads planning and investment, according to McCabe.
In other words, the employers lobby group is calling for some joined up thinking between the two administrations, with regard to the provision on road infrastructure on the island of Ireland.
It is also calling for the UK government to live up to its commitments on the various sea crossings between Britain and the Republic.
It all a far cry from a few years ago, when Irish motorists looked enviously across the Irish Sea!