Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy may be correct. We do need to look at review of the National Transport Authority, NTA, and TII. I have always found the sort of inter-relationship between those organisations to be slightly strange. TII is very efficient at delivering infrastructure and, to my mind, it should, therefore, get on with it in terms of the various roads programmes we have discussed but also, critically, the metro project. As I stated, I believe it can have an increasing role on the active travel side, and that is something we are reviewing. The NTA is more on the strategic planning side but it too has shown real ability, judging by what I have seen in respect of projects such as BusConnects in Dublin. Its staffing levels were significantly increased in the recent budget to enable it to replicate that in Cork, Galway, Waterford and Limerick. As I stated to Senators Craughwell and Buttimer and other members, we need the NTA to help the local authorities in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford to deliver those projects. The NTA is responsible for the big public transport projects, including transport planning in the metropolitan cities and the delivery of active travel. BusConnects is one of its projects. Irish Rail has a crucial role too. For example, the link between Limerick Junction and Colbert Station, which we were discussing, will be the responsibility of Irish Rail, in conjunction with the NTA.