Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is encouraging. If Mr. Owens could push that to make sure it is always a focus, it would be great.

I am a big fan of BusConnects but it must be rolled out if it is going to dramatically improve public transport in Dublin. I am not making a political point but where I feel things fall down slightly is outside the M50. I represent Dublin Fingal. While there are some changes in BusConnects, it looks like north County Dublin will have a route and model very familiar to the one that has existed for decades. Fingal has a slightly lopsided nature in that the DART does a lot of heavy lifting on the coast while Dublin Bus does a lot for the middle, from Swords down, but then has real competition in the form of private contractors. That said, Dublin Bus still provides an unbelievable service and is always striving to improve.

Journeys are a lot longer in respect of those areas outside the M50. As good as the buses are and as improved as they have become over the years, long journeys are never entirely comfortable on double-decker buses. I would like to see a bit of focus because we could be waiting for a metro link for years. There are people who are public operator-minded and want to use Dublin Bus - their State-owned service - but they are under intense competition from private contractors with their fancy coaches. I would like to see some more innovation and extra effort to provide an increased service. My family lives on the Ballymun Road corridor. It does not matter what day of the week it is, they do not even have to check the bus timetable. They just walk out and they know they will be waiting four or five minutes and a No. 4, 13, 11 or 155 bus will come along. It does not matter. That is the way it should work. We do not quite have that outside the M50.

I wish Mr. Owens well. Dublin Bus is a great and trusted company. Be it during the pandemic where everyone's backs are to the wall and we need services that Dublin Bus or An Post provided or a concert at Slane, Dublin Bus is always there and I hope it will always be there in the future. When we are looking at new forms of transport, public bicycle schemes and possibly public scooter schemes, we need to ensure that Dublin Bus always leads and that if we put stations anywhere, we will put them where bus services congregate or have critical mass. I wish Mr. Owens well and thank him for all the work he will do in the future.