Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for that. My other question is on public transport, which has been a focal point in the past several months. The trade unions whose members drive trains and buses are very exercised over the dangers faced by the public and employees. They feel there needs to be a section of An Garda Síochána to deal with public transport. I agree and believe it is a direction in which we need to go. As the Minister is aware, we are pushing everybody to use more public transport and stop using their cars. I hope that is what will happen and that we will have the required infrastructure in place as we move forward, but we will have to ensure people can use public transport safely. Many people, particularly young women, are afraid of their lives to go near DART stations and other such places after dark. They will take a taxi and do anything other than do so. The main reason is security. While some public transport operators use private security firms, which do a certain job, we need to consider using Garda resources and forming an appropriate corps to deal with the matter.

I would like to hear the Minister's comments on where that might go.