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

The NTA and my colleagues know that my party are champions of Dublin Bus and public representatives are sometimes afraid to call out its failings. Employees of Go-Ahead are also workers. There are two Go-Ahead routes operating in my own area. It is still at an early phase and if, after six months, there are still issues, they should be raised then.

I have a problem with the Minister's lack of input. He stands by and has no input or ideas particularly regarding the big gap that will exist between 2018 and 2027. The BusConnects corridors will not be completed until 2027, the same time that metro north will be finished. I would like to see intervention measures between now and then and I ask the NTA witnesses their view on that.

I have said to the NTA privately, and I will say it publically, that all these corridors have to be done. I will echo what Senator Humphreys has said and ask the NTA to advise the committee on the NTA's human resource capacity. Does the NTA have the number of staff it needs because, if it does not, that is a matter for the Oireachtas. This should be pushed through if there are enough engineers, administrators, designers and all the rest available but, if the NTA does not have the staff available to it, then the Oireachtas urgently needs to look at giving assistance. The NTA is taking on a lot.

Phase 2 of BusConnects absolutely has to happen. We had disagreements on phase 1 and we look forward to the NTA coming back with a second iteration on that in the spring.

I have said to a number of my colleagues that if we were putting Luas trams rather than bus corridors along those 16 spines there would be a much bigger public buy-in and people would be willing to wear and accept being discommoded in the significant way they are going to be discommoded. We need to sell the bus corridors project as Luas on rubber wheels and it has to be of the highest standard from the design phase. I have strongly proposed the use of what the NTA calls articulated buses and what Dubs call bendy buses which allow multiple access points. The NTA is resistant to that because those buses involve a lot of standing room and questions arise as to how far a passenger should be allowed to stand for a full journey. At the moment, if a passenger is travelling on the Luas from Sandyford, he or she is standing from start to finish in some cases. That is a decision for the commuter. These long-length buses should look like a tram, have all the technology the trams have, stop at bus stops with all the technology and show where people need to connect, etc. I push the NTA to look at that. Those buses were introduced in Belfast recently and faced some of the challenges that will face us. A first class bus system would be a significant selling point for people.

Our bus corridors and boxes are not policed and, if they were, it would encourage people to switch from cars to buses and would grow confidence in bus corridors. That does not have to be done by An Garda Síochána. That is under different jurisdiction in other countries and that could be looked at as an option. This is where the Minister lets us down. I do not think he loses sleep at night worrying about traffic congestion in Dublin. There are some public representatives who spend a lot of time thinking about how can we do this and that and, in fairness, the NTA listens. What do we do between now and the time the first corridor is delivered? Traffic congestion is growing. An Taisce suggested this morning that the NTA did not look at the idea of a corridor on the M50 going from interchange to interchange.

My final, serious question relates to two areas in my constituency. The 175 route has been introduced to essentially connect the green and red Luas lines. My ultimate ambition would be to see a tramline do that. There is sufficient road width and possibilities for very clever landscaping along almost entire sections of the roads that lead from the red Luas line to the green Luas line in Dundrum where there could be a dedicated and segregated bus corridor. Is the core corridor design piece the only show in town for the next decade, or is there a possibility to add to that, or can local authorities do it if they feel there is a demand? Must it be NTA led and will there be funding for other possible corridor projects that come up and are feasible in the interim period?