Maire Devine (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I attended the presentation in the Royal Hibernian Academy; there was a bit of a to-do there also.

I have several questions. The consultation has been pushed out to 28 September. That is unacceptable because half of the people of Dublin will not be around for the majority of that time. The city is empty. If I want to be cynical I could say this happens frequently, either over the Christmas or Easter periods or the summer holidays. I do not know the reason that date was agreed. Is there a deadline we should be aware of? I plead with the witnesses not to ignore the request from Oireachtas Members or the public to revisit the cut-off point of 28 September because people are only settling back into their homes and jobs at that time.

I still have difficulty with the maps provided, despite having taken a microscope and a magnifying glass to them. I would love to have a detailed explanation of how these new routes will impact on the city street by street and house number by house number. There will be loss of greenery and, in some instances, loss of property in the surrounding areas of the city but it is very important that we know how the impact of that on a house number by house number basis. I would like to be provided with detailed maps covering the areas of Crumlin, the Liberties, Kilmainham and Ballyfermot because I still cannot read the ones provided, and I am not that dumb. I hope the witnesses will be able to provide that. Are they available in that detailed format online?

There was another question about the national children's hospital. It appears the national children's hospital will not have a direct bus route other than from outlying areas. That will be a loss to the people within the south side of city. There is talk of restricting general traffic in Mount Brown to public transport only. That is a very busy area already but when the hospital opens in 2021 or 2022, what will be the transport options to the hospital for people in the centre of the city, especially for those in the south side?

I note we are going back to a single deck fleet. I remember the City Imp, the 123, that served Inchicore down to the Liberties. We are returning to a single deck fleet but an electric vehicle fleet should be considered having regard to the environment and energy conservation in the future. Why was the single deck fleet chosen? Is it because the buses are more frequent? Why was the City Imp and similar buses withdrawn having been introduced in the 1990s?

Was a study done on the Luas, and perhaps the DART also? Despite a difficult start, the Luas has transformed the city. Unfortunately, the transformation has meant that the city is clogged with cars which are beginning to take over neighbourhoods around every Luas stop. One cannot park near my one in Rialto because cars have taken over the area. Unfortunately, the residents are being penalised. They are being told that the only solution is paid parking but the problem is not of their making. It is the influence of the development of the national children's hospital.

Has consideration been given to connecting buses to each major Luas stop, where there is an outpouring of people from the Luas, to take them from there out of the city? That would mean people would not park their cars at the Luas stop all day or wait to collect somebody to bring them further out of the city?

Route 17 covering Rialto to the UCD area will no longer service any of the housing estates in Crumlin. I reiterate the need for a map outlining, step by step, the loss of property, trees and infrastructure heading towards the outskirts of the city centre. In terms of the city centre, it is clogged with traffic already. How will we manage to increase the speed of the bus service? We cannot tear down old Dublin to do that.