Marian Harkin (Sligo-Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Connolly for her timely and comprehensive motion on a new vision for transport in Galway and other areas. I was happy to sign the motion.

While the proposals put forward in the motion largely relate to Galway city and county, nonetheless many of these proposals can in principle be applied to other areas throughout the country. That is one aspect I appreciate about the motion. In principle, these proposals can be applied at a national level.

The motion is timely because it is in the shadow of COP27, where we all heard the stark warnings of being on the highway to hell with our foot on the accelerator. Many of the proposals in the motion could allow us to take our foot off the accelerator and to use public transport instead of continuing with our car-dependent ways. However, for this to happen public transport must be accessible.

Accessible means availability. There must be sufficient and reliable bus routes for people to use. The Minister will be aware that while things have improved, it was a significant concern for many people over the past few months that buses did not always turn up. Somebody going to or coming from work early in the morning or late at night, going for appointments, going about their business or whatever has to be able to rely on public transport because, especially in rural areas, it is not the situation that if someone misses a bus, there will be another one coming or if a bus does not turn up, another one will arrive within ten, 15 or 20 minutes. Often someone will have to wait two to three hours for another bus to arrive. If those buses do not turn up for whatever reason, because it makes little difference when someone is standing at the bus stop, the truth is people will simply stop using public transport.

Accessibility is not only about availability; it is also about cost. I recognise that efforts have been made to decrease the cost of public transport and I would be fully supportive of that.

Accessibility is also about universal accessibility. That, of course, includes all persons with a disability. Sometimes when we think of disability, we only think of somebody perhaps in a wheelchair but disability is much wider than that and, as our population ages, more people will have some form of disability. It is important that our public transport fleet is designed in such a way that it caters for all levels of disability. That is bottom-line stuff.

Coming back to the motion, one of the proposals that I was interested to see is the recognition that Galway city has launched an application to the European Commission to become a net-zero pilot city and if it were successful, it would receive funding to implement innovative approaches to carbon reduction over a two-year pilot programme. This is an EU initiative. I hope that other cities across Ireland have applied to join this initiative because this would allow local authorities to try out different approaches, to put alternative strategies in place and to see what works best because not everything will be 100% successful. That is what innovation is. We try out to see what is best for a city or town. This kind of initiative gives local authorities flexibility to see whether certain proposals work well in their city. It is a great opportunity, as I said, for other Irish cities to try this approach and I sincerely hope that many others have applied to join this initiative.

I am also pleased that the motion reiterates the fact that a key message from the OECD report is that refocusing efforts on transformative policies is not restricted to urban areas because one third of Ireland's population is rural. We are all aware that more people are moving out of the larger cities. It is not only due to the trend of working from home but also the cost of living in our cities is becoming prohibitive. That means rural transport services must serve all those rural areas. I am pleased that I can see a real start in providing rural transport in parts of counties Leitrim and Sligo. It is a good start. Many people are happy to see that. It refocuses how people think.

I look forward to seeing a further roll-out of these services. The Minister spoke about balanced regional development. This is a crucial part of a balance of development in regions. People have to be able to get from A to B. Reliable, accessible and affordable public transport is very much part of this package.

In this context, while I have the floor and the Minister is sitting in front of me, I want to speak specifically about a new bus route that is being rolled out in Sligo. I am referring to the old S3 route, which is now called the 981 route. It goes from Coolaney in Sligo through Sligo town to St. Angela's College. I have contacted the Minister on a number of occasions about this. I have asked that Maugheraboy, which is an area of Sligo town, be included on the route. The press release announcing the route included Maugheraboy but now this does not seem to be the case. I do not know why it is no longer included.

This morning I received a response to a parliamentary question I tabled to the Minister's office on this issue. I have been told it has been referred to the NTA. I do not know how well the Minister knows Sligo Town. He does not need to know it well to know that if one section of a town is not served by public transport it is a major issue for people. I know there is huge disappointment in the Maugheraboy area that this part of the town has been left without a bus service. While I accept the Minister's response that it was being referred to the NTA, I strongly ask that he asks why this is the case so the authority is fully aware of the level of disappointment. Even at this late stage some minor change in the route might be possible. This is all that is needed. We are not speaking about major changes. Any change made would not discommode other areas. We have a relatively simple solution. If there are challenges and reasons the bus route is not serving the community in Maugheraboy, I would like to know why this is and what will be done to ensure this community is fully serviced. I am asking for the Minister's help on this. I will be in contact with him again.

He mentioned the western rail corridor and that it was to go from Ballina to Waterford. He did not mention Sligo. I am not sure what is in his mind. Perhaps he might clarify this for me. To my knowledge at least, it was always the case that Sligo was very much included in the western rail corridor. People may be surprised and disappointed if this is not the case. I suspect it probably is. Perhaps the Minister might be able to clarify this.

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