Marc MacSharry (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Very well. Members of the public have raised two junctions with me. I do not want what I am about to say to be misinterpreted as being against pedestrians. They are obviously a priority. I am told that at the junction at College Green and at the Stephen's Green end of Baggot Street the period of time given for people to cross is very generous. A review of those junctions could benefit the traffic flow.

None of us wants it cut such that pedestrians cannot get across the road. Perhaps it could be looked at. It may be the case that it cannot be shortened, but it has been raised so therefore I have raised it with the witnesses.

While it is not directly connected to BusConnects, we have read a lot about transport police. It predominantly concerns rail services, although incidents happen on the Luas and buses as well. There seems to be pushback from the Garda and everybody else to say this is not a problem, there is a text service and this, that and the other, and there is regular contact with the police. From a budgetary perspective it is unlikely that we will get a dedicated transport police no matter who is in government. Have the witnesses spoken to the Garda Commissioner, Mr. Harris, or would they consider speaking to him to ask if we could build in to one of every three shifts of beat cops that as part of their working day they would include specific bus routes or travel on an intercity train line, which I accept is not the bus service? That could act as a deterrent. Such a presence, rather than having a dedicated transport police, could give people peace of mind and give confidence to vulnerable commuters It would also act as a deterrent to those people causing the problems in the first place. Could the witnesses have an exploratory conversation with Commissioner Harris along those lines? I am sorry for delaying proceedings.