John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am as passionate about public transport as Mr. O'Leary is. In my area we were able to live with traffic congestion in the early 1990s when it was at its peak because we saw the M50 being built. All the ring roads and other infrastructure was put in place. I now have tell people at public meetings that there is no silver bullet now and no outer ring road that could be built. Even if it could be built, it would take 20 years to deliver it. We need a solution that is deliverable in a much faster timeframe, and public transport is the only way to do that. Mr. O'Leary and I have the same view on that issue and I am a strong advocate for public transport. However, transport infrastructure, by which I mean obstacle-free, segregated buses - essentially a Luas on rubber wheels - travelling into the cities or orbitally around the cities are the only solution. I champion that idea.

Mr. O'Leary is the first person to make the point that his basic objection to BusConnects is that a person will be asked to get off a bus and to get onto another bus as part of his or her journey. That approach will not work. I am not defending this or playing devil's advocate here. We are having a to and fro on a committee, which is not always possible. However, people connect with different modes of transport all the time. The example was given of getting off at the Bleeding Horse pub and walking around the corner to connect to the Luas, which can be done in 90 seconds.