Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the chairs designate and wish them well in their terms. At one level, today's meeting is a fait accompli. That underscores the need for reform of the appointments of chairs of State boards. It is no disrespect to the witnesses but this meeting is rather moot because we cannot - not that we would do so - block the appointments. I should say I am fully in support of the reappointments of all.

We have had an interesting and sobering discussion. If the Oireachtas is supposed to do its business differently after the pandemic, we should look at having hearings on the appointments of chairs of boards. We should also consider brining in chief executives, which we could have done in the case of the four companies before us today.

Among other issues, the witnesses referred to pensions. That is a massive issue. Like Deputy Ó Murchú, I have many issues from a Cork perspective that required to be addressed. These include the electrification of rail in Cork and the need to review the public service obligation levy funding which was made available by the Government in November.

I thank the front-line transport staff and the workers in the companies for the work they have done during the pandemic. In some cases, they have been treated very poorly by the travelling public, for example, in the context of people refusing to wear masks. I welcome the provision of hand sanitiser on buses in particular.

Life changes. There is less traffic on the roads. Remote working and working from home mean that the issue of public transport changes, but then it does not change. There is a responsibility on public transport providers to provide more services. At the moment, there is 25% capacity. We have to address that.

In the context of the Port of Cork, how does the rail freight strategy proposed by Irish Rail fit in with the move of the port to Ringaskiddy?

On education, it is true that if we educate children to do so, they will use public transport?

Has Bus Éireann ever discussed with Munster Technological University or the Cork Institute of Technology plans for a shuttle bus park-and-ride facility to take cars off the streets of Bishopstown, for example?

We have all heard great buzzwords such as "mobility", "passenger experience", "choice", "sustainable transport" and "integrated ticketing", yet we cannot see integrated ticketing in parts of Cork, from the city to Mallow and Midleton. Why is that? If I live in rural Ireland, in Kilmichael or Omeath, how do I get a bus to Cork or Dundalk?

Deputy Cathal Crowe referred to train transport. Where is the plan regarding high-speed electrification of the route from Cork to Dublin? I have travelled on the Acela train service in America. I accept that it costs a few bob but as a one-off experience, it was worth the money because the train speeds on the track. Where are we in terms of that?

There are many issues into which I could go. We have the Cork metropolitan area transport strategy. I want to see more buses in Cork, and more people using them. We have issues around bus corridors. The difficulty we have in parts of the Cork is we are reducing services because there has been a decline in population. How do we incentivise people to use public transport? I drive to Dublin. It is brilliant that there is no traffic on the M7 into Dublin any more because of Covid-19 but that will not be the case forever. How do we tell the people who are on the commuter belt, in places such as Portlaoise, Naas, Sallins and the outskirts of Dublin, that we can provide them with a bus or train link into the city that does not require them to take their cars? The situation is similar in Cork. I am sure many of our guests are familiar with these issues. It can take an hour to go from the top of Grange to the Kinsale Road roundabout. Where are we on buses for schools and getting people off the road? I thank the chairpersons designate because their work is to be commended. I hope engagement on public transport will continue.