Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the gentlemen for coming in to talk to us today. I acknowledge that, at a crucial time, those who operate buses, trains and taxis were the essential workers ferrying other essential workers to and from their jobs. On behalf of Sinn Féin, I thank them for their public service. The State depended on them and they were there for us.

I have read the submissions. I am sure our guests are aware that many of their co-workers across Europe lost their lives as a result of Covid-19. What do they need from us politicians to keep them safe? I thank Mr. O’Leary for his perseverance regarding the wearing of masks on public transport. The latter was one of the things I mentioned in my maiden speech to the Dáil. I was tearing my hair out over how long it took to happen. I thank him again for his perseverance because it is very important for the safety of not just bus and train workers, but of all people on their way to work.

I am concerned about capacity on busy routes. The Bus Éireann 115 route in north Kildare was already running over capacity before the pandemic. I was talking to the group in Kilcock last night. With not so many people back at work, it is manageable at the moment. However, we will need further capacity on these routes. While every route suffers during rush hour, some routes need particular attention. Is enough being done in this regard, especially with more people on the move and with the numbers relating to Covid rising again?

In the context of train capacity, could Irish Rail limit the number of tickets being sold to customers so that it would be easier for those customers to adhere to social distancing requirements? In their submission, the witnesses suggest that they would like hand sanitiser to be used. It would be easy to enforce that on public transport with a hand sanitiser dispenser available when people are getting on and off a train.

I spoke to the Minister, Shane Ross, about it. I agree that he was quite dismissive of many of the suggestions. I want to tease out the issue of school transport, which is on page 15 of the submission.