Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Graham for her opening statement and for the NTA's engagement in recent years, particularly by her.

Before I come to my list of complaints, which Ms Graham can probably predict, I wish to state my support. We need to change modalities and ensure that this works and that we have an efficient public transport system, especially in Dublin city.

I come from an older residential area with a particular need. According to the opening statement, the NTA is charged with four actions: the efficient, effective and sustainable movement of people and goods; ensuring sustainability under our climate commitments; considering all methods of transport; and engaging in public consultation. The draft transport strategy was published on 9 November 2021. Its executive summary consists of 46 pages, the strategy itself is 224 pages long and there are 25 supporting documents, not counting the three impact assessments. The portal for consultation opened on 9 November, ran over Christmas and closed on 10 January. This was during Covid and times of restrictions on public meetings. It was available online and presupposed that everyone had access to a computer and was literate enough to navigate his or her way through all of that documentation.

Of the 25 documents, the Dublin South-West study is 64 pages long. It notes low bus speeds and proposes a solution to that issue. I wish to address the area comprising Fortfield Park and Fortfield Road. The recommendation for this area is that parking on the road be restricted as a solution to low bus speeds. This is understood to mean that there will be a ban on parking. The 54A bus route travels along both roads and runs twice per hour. That will increase to four services per hour at normal times – with inward and outward journeys, this means eight journeys – and six services per hour at peak times, or 12 journeys. The report does not take cognisance of the four schools in the immediate vicinity – they have a much wider catchment area – that do not have direct bus connectivity or that the combined number of students and staff is 2,500. There was a failure to notify residents, shops and schools of the fact that their lives would change if these traffic restrictions were imposed. The report failed to take cognisance of the health and safety of the children and the parents and guardians accompanying younger children to school. The residents' quality of life will be undermined, but they are blissfully unaware of it. The consultation period closed without many of them being aware because there was such a drowning of documentation. In a document like this one, the same thing is repeated four times. I have marked it.

Finding the level of detail for their road took a forensic mind, and some of us were fortunate to have access to such a resource in Mr. Brendan Heneghan.

There is another aspect to climate consciousness. In the Dublin South-Central constituency, we also have Ceannt Fort, a residential area that is one of the oldest estates in the city. There are 202 houses on the estate. As a consequence of the bus gate on the Old Kilmainham Road, when they drive out of their estate, people will not be able to turn left. They will be obliged to turn right or else detour through the new children's hospital or St. James's Hospital. There is no accommodation for local access proposals, such as an exemption or a sticker or something. The bus gate is proposed to operate 24-7 but that will not happen in practice. As it is in other areas, the 24-7 provision is an excessive response.

Chapelizod is a community without a secondary school. People there commute to schools in Lucan and Leixlip. Many of the residents rely on the post office and banks in Ballyfermot. There are a number of disability residential providers within Chapelizod. There is significant inward and outward traffic. Last November, when the C spine came into being, the connectivity between Chapelizod and Lucan and Leixlip was removed and people now have to take two buses. The consequence of that, as estimated by some of the local residents, is that car journeys have increased by 170 per week.

There was no entertainment of metro south-west; it was dismissed out of hand. There are areas of Terenure and Templeogue that are caught between three bus corridors and all traffic will be driven down very narrow residential areas. Unlike the experience of my colleague, public consultation in the area has been woefully absent. I accept that there have been meetings with some public representatives, but measures to ensure that the public can realise the sheer impact of the change in their lives are woefully absent. If we are talking about ensuring efficient, effective and sustainable movement of people and goods, the result of what will happen at Ceannt Fort, and that has already happened in Chapelizod, will be an increase in the number of car journeys rather than a reduction.

I would like the response of the witnesses to this. Will there still be an opportunity to have an impact or see change in this? There is much disillusionment in the area because people want to support these measures but they are unable to because their voices are not necessarily being heard.