Ms Anne Graham:

From the NTA's perspective, we would always be trying to ensure there is a counterbalance to Dublin. When the previous national development plan was being created, we had two key strategies in place, namely, the Dublin strategy and the Galway strategy. From those, a number of projects had already been identified. We were not in a position to put forward at that stage any projects for Cork except BusConnects because we knew that would be coming down the track. However, we now have a strategy in place and we know the types of projects required in Cork and in Galway city. We also know the approximate expenditure required for those. We will also know more in terms of Limerick and Waterford. We are in a better position to put forward the public transport infrastructure projects for the regional cities as well as for Dublin. These will act as a counterbalance. We have no issue with focusing only on the Dublin region. To meet the national development plan and Project Ireland 2040 goals, there is a requirement to counterbalance that with investment in the regional cities as well and not only in the cities but in the towns and villages, but that would be primarily around bus infrastructure and some rail infrastructure. That is very important to us.

On people working from home, we will certainly set out the public transport networks to be robust regardless of the number of people who are working from home. Particularly with the bus service network, it can be dialled up or down depending on the level of demand. The network itself, in the context of connections and the places it serves, should remain robust. We certainly have that in place in Dublin. By means of the work to assess the BusConnects for Cork, we hope to establish what will be the appropriate network for the city for the next 20 years effectively. When the network is established, it is then just a case of increasing on reducing services on the basis of travel demand.