Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I intended raising another topic but no one had mentioned the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, which is an important body. It was useful to have quiet meetings and side meetings. I know the Leas-Cathaoirleach has been distracted by Senator Devine but BIPA will be 30 years old next year, and it has been a very useful body. I do not know whether the Leader was ever a member of that assembly, but it is well worth the twice annual visits in Ireland and the United Kingdom, where people can have brief discussions and private talks about what is going on and find out things that people might be uncomfortable saying publicly. There are obviously sessions in public as well.

I would like to raise the issue of BusConnects with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. There are two aspects to BusConnects. The first is the highly controversial bus lanes and the removal of trees, grass verges and so on, while the second is the network redesign. BusConnects published a second version of the network redesign yesterday and many public consultation sessions will be held in November which I am highlighting in order to let the public know about them. The Minister might come in and explain to us how he intends to deal with the significant congestion in Dublin as well as the physical aspects of changing footpaths, roads and grass verges and the destruction and removal of trees. Equally, there is the question of the network and service redesign, which many people will find challenging initially. It may provide a better service. I am not saying it will not, but there will be winners and losers, and it is up to individuals to investigate what is happening in their areas and make a submission about it. To be fair to the National Transport Authority, NTA, it has listened and taken on board many of the observations it received, but it can do much more. It is important that people look into this to see what is happening to their service and whether it is getting better or worse. Half of it might get better but for the other half there might be connections or bus changes involved, which may not suit. People should have their say, and make their contributions and submissions at the sessions which are taking place throughout November at eight different locations. This does not just affect Dublin, but the entire Dublin Bus network, which extends out to counties Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. I ask the Leader to schedule a discussion with the Minister, Deputy Ross, sooner rather than later, on BusConnects, public transport provision and congestion in Dublin more generally.