Seán Kenny (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. O'Rourke and thank him for his detailed presentation. I wish him success with the two merged agencies. I very much welcome yesterday’s announcement of the Luas BXD line to join up the two existing Luas lines and to connect up with other services as well. The construction of the line will cause a number of problems and headaches. Reference has been made to some of them already. I understand that it is proposed to bring the Luas line around by College Green. That would leave very little room for any other kind of traffic. How will it be dealt with in terms of the overall transport layout and services that use College Green? It is a key route for cross-city traffic.

The other question I wished to raise relates to the Luas and safety. As it is an on-street tram system using the same road space as other traffic, safety must be the highest priority. There have been a number of high profile accidents in recent years. One was a crash between a Luas tram and a bus at the junction of O’Connell Street and Abbey Street. A number of people were injured but thankfully no one was fatally injured. Nevertheless, I understand the Luas crashed through a green light for some reason. More recently the Luas was out of action for the better part of a day because of a collision between a bin truck and a Luas tram in the Smithfield area. Inevitably, accidents will happen but we must be assured that safety is of the highest standard. When one is travelling on public transport one does not expect to be involved in a collision with another vehicle.

Another issue relates to the problem of crime and anti-social behaviour on the Luas red line. Frequently, we hear of tourists who travel from Heuston Station to the city centre on the Luas and have wallets or cameras stolen. There is a need for personal passenger security and safety on the red line in particular. There is a problem with drugs on parts of the line as well. There is a need for on-board security on the service.