Ms Anne Graham:

The Senator also asked a question about what type of fleet would be included in terms of low emissions. It is likely to be a mixture of diesel hybrid and a compressed natural gas, CNG, fleet that we are about to test, with both Bus Éireann and Dublin Bus, to see what are the emissions associated with that type of fleet.

That work will inform our procurement strategy which will start at the end of the year. We hope the delivery of the low-emissions fleet will start late next year. We also want to test a fully electric fleet and will do so in a small town, rather than in Dublin. We will test to determine what all of the infrastructure costs are before we look to multiply it into a Dublin system. Other European cities do not tend to use double-deck fleets the way we do in Ireland and the United Kingdom; therefore, we need to see whether we can have a good battery power system for a double-deck fleet. We want to engage with manufacturers to see whether it can be delivered for the city at a reasonable price, with the infrastructure.

We know that we need to improve significantly park and ride facilities in the city region. Constraining car parking within city centre areas and facilities is one of the ways to try to encourage people to use public transport, but there has to be a balance. We have to make sure the public transport and park and ride facilities are available to allow people to make the change. I was not aware of capacity issues at the Red Cow.