Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Indeed. Members visited my constituency just last week. I thank the witnesses for the presentations. Like Senator Feighan, I took public transport coming here today and I am delighted to report it was a very pleasant experience altogether. The work of Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the National Transport Authority with Dublin City Council and Dublin Bus is bearing some fruit in the Trinity College corridor in particular.

BusConnects is the most immediate prospect on our horizon. The first phase of announcements will be forthcoming next month. What is the plan with regard to the co-ordination between Dublin Bus and the BusConnects project? From what I have seen before us and so far, it seems there is potential or fear among people that there could be a somewhat phased withdrawal of some Dublin Bus services as a consequence of some BusConnects projects overlapping. I am curious to hear the thoughts of the witnesses at this stage if they can release information into the public domain on the matter. It is the single most pressing concern from the BusConnects project. It has great potential and the idea of a high-capacity, high-frequency set of 16 routes into the city is eminently sensible. It requires a change of culture and mentality among those who would use public transport. I am therefore curious to hear the thoughts of the witnesses on that transition period.

The next question relates to M50 congestion, as has been pointed out by my colleague, Senator Feighan. A 30% increase in the use of the M50 is extraordinary and the asset has really been sweated in that regard. I note it will be 2019 before the legislation will be in place for variable speed limits. Is that deadline by the witnesses' choice or is there anything we can do to speed that up? I know any increase in capacity would be most welcome and the M50 is effectively the outline of my constituency; I am very acutely aware of how many people use the M50 and are frustrated by it as a consequence of the increased amount of traffic. That is a consequence of a number of factors, including the increase in the number of people going to and from work, as my colleague noted.

My next question is on my pet project, the Luas to Finglas. Lord knows it would not be a transport committee meeting with the current witnesses if I did not take the opportunity to ask a question on the matter. My understanding is that once the metro north project concludes its design phase - the preferred route will be finalised following the public consultation - the design teams could move to the Luas lines, and that could potentially be as soon as the end of 2019, according to the metro document. Will the witnesses confirm if that is the case?