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

I welcome Mr. Gaffney to the committee. I missed the beginning of his presentation but I think he appeared before the committee on a previous occasion as I recall listening to him speak on the Hong Kong metro and his work in Scottish Rail. As he said he is a professional railway man I wish him success in his role. There is no doubt he has painted a very stark picture. I hope the new Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, whoever he or she happens to be, will listen to him.

My constituency includes 13 DART stations from Clontarf Road to Howth and out to Clongriffin and Portmarnock. Queries and problems arise all the time around the manning of stations and security on the DART at night, what can happen at weekends in Howth when many people descend on the area, many carrying alcohol and how that is to be managed. I am aware of private security on the DART and that sometimes the assistance of the Garda Síochána is required. That is a problem that needs to be managed, especially when people, particularly women, may feel afraid getting off an unmanned station late at night. These are issues that need to be addressed. Much of this is down to anti-social behaviour which is outside the control of Iarnród Éireann. Mr. Gaffney mentioned what happened in Bray this morning and said he thought it was a deliberate act that somebody had caused a derailment. Unfortunately, those types of actions happen. Currently there is also a problem with people stealing overhead cables for the metal content. That is dangerous because somebody will get electrocuted if they continue to do that. These are the problems that arise on the DART which provides an outstanding service to commuters. I travelled on it this morning. The question of security and unmanned stations at night is a real issue.