Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure how many people were in the car parks on South William Street on Friday night, but I know that anyone who was there as a pedestrian was squashed into a much smaller space. It appears that was done to facilitate car park owners. I am not saying that people do not have a need to drive into the city sometimes but it strikes me as being a bit odd that the car park owners appear to hold sway over this. If there are no plans to expand the pedestrianisation in South William Street, that would be regrettable. I was on the street and talked to people who were there. For the vast majority of people there, notwithstanding some messing, it was a very enjoyable experience. People say that it is great and that it would be great if it were bigger. Is there an intention to expand the part of the road where it is working well, on the small area that is pedestrianised, on either side?

While I have the floor - I am conscious my time is short - does Mr. Shakespeare agree with his colleague, Mr. Coilín O'Reilly, in his assessment that providing bins and facilities will only encourage people to come into town or does he believe it would be a good thing to put in additional facilities? I think his colleague sent out a poor message to people in that there is no point in putting in facilities because that will only encourage people to come into town. Business owners want people to come into town. Retail workers want their jobs to be secure and people need to come into our towns and villages to do that.