Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I refer to an earlier reply from the Minister when he said that he would not like to see roads and public transport competing against each other for funding. The Minister is correct that it is extremely important that both are funded. Given our geography, we have major road infrastructure that needs to be maintained and requires a high level of funding. We also need to increase funding for public transport because of the serious capacity issues. Thankfully, more people are back at work but we now have an issue with the capacity of public transport. One can see in the capital programme that large scale investment in public transport will not happen for a minimum of three to four years. Is there an opportunity to borrow from Europe to invest in public transport when interest rates are at an incredibly low rate? By doing so, we would increase our capacity and ensure we have a public transport system in the capital city that is fit for purpose and that will encourage people to leave their cars at home and use public transport instead. When we increase our capacity, we increase the number of people who pay fares and generate greater revenue and we ensure that we can fund public transport in the future. We talk about congestion but how will we get people out of their cars? The only way to get people out of their cars is by providing an alternative. Nobody will chose an alternative that is not fit for purpose, if it runs late or is over subscribed, resulting in people standing, waiting or queueing. That is something that should be looked at. How can we get the necessary funding to increase investment in public transport and increase our capacity in the capital city of Dublin?