Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, there is. The National Transport Authority has published a greater Dublin transport strategy, which outlines various projects it believes need to be delivered to address the matters to which the Deputy referred. He mentioned in particular how we can introduce shorter travel times between Dublin city, County Dublin and adjacent counties. The NTA wants to electrify the existing hard-rail network so that rail services going in and out of the city get to DART frequency and speeds. That is a key part of what it wants to do.

The next part concerns the metro project about which I was asked earlier, and there is also the expansion of bus rapid transit and more bus lanes. Therefore, the strategy is there and much progress has been made, including what is currently under way with the Luas cross-city scheme. My understanding is that between 80 to 110 new buses have been purchased for Dublin Bus per year in recent years, so progress has been made in that regard. I accept, however, that we need to increase investment in that area. That is why when the budget is completed we will move right into the capital review to examine capital expenditure for 2018 to 2021. By looking at that, I hope we will be able to make progress on some of the priorities to which the Deputy referred. I am convinced that a higher quality of public transport is essential to how we will organise not only Dublin, but many other cities also.