John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is very unusual for me to get agreement. Metro west was also part of the jigsaw because it was to link to metro north. The western part of Dublin is where the population growth is. We have two strategic development zones, SDZs, under physical construction as we speak, brand new towns with approximately 10,000 new housing units. The witnesses are sick and tired of hearing me say that the section of the M50 between the N4 and N7 is probably the busiest section of road anywhere in the country. Metro west was to have been an orbital route. At the time, local authorities were making reserves of some lands. While it is not included in the 2016 to 2035 plan, that does not mean that the original concept is not as valid today. In light of the fact that the MetroLink is being shortened by 7 km, should the NTA not consider an extension to the western part of the city, especially linking the orbital route connecting Tallaght, Clondalkin, Lucan and Blanchardstown? The area accommodates two hospitals, two third level colleges and two major shopping centres. There is major activity on that orbital route. I would welcome a comment in that regard.

I acknowledge that the next stage of the public consultation on the BusConnects network will not take place until after the summer. Thanks be to God for that, because people do want to engage with it and the summer time is not appropriate. It might delay it a month or two but it is better that we have full and meaningful engagement. The whole idea of the network change was to shorten journey time and to provide more efficiencies. As I stated to the NTA witnesses previously, the problem I have is that the network changes are going to happen before the corridor changes are put in place. I am concerned that the journey times and efficiencies the NTA hopes to achieve will not be achieved.

I have looked at the corridors and one of them stands out as not having very many houses affected, possibly no more than 15 houses, which is the Lucan corridor, mainly along an existing motorway. Should consideration be given to trying to fast-track that to demonstrate that the corridor and network solutions being proposed are effective and that they would be additionally accommodated with park-and-ride facilities? I have real concerns that the NTA will change the network in advance of the corridors and that it will not achieve the travel time. As Ms Graham correctly pointed out in her opening statement, the increased population and traffic in and out of the city continues to grow but the proposed solutions are significantly down the road. Until corridors and efficiencies are put in place, is there a programme to increase substantially the fleet of buses operating in the Dublin area in parallel with the BusConnects project?