Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy. It is a question of finding the best way of delivering that, which I believe to be the rapid delivery of BusConnects projects across our five cities, as well as the delivery of the Connecting Ireland rural bus system. In that regard, the greatest obstacle will be political or public opposition. We must have sufficient political will, as this will require a challenging reallocation of road space, the creation of a safe space for people to walk and cycle and keeping buses from getting stuck in traffic. The best way for us to have a reliable and timetabled bus service is to give buses greater priority on our roads. We are in the middle of that process. As the Chairman stated, Galway published its proposals in that respect yesterday and I believe that Cork issued a further update last week. This strategy is before those of us in the political system here and now, at local government level more than anywhere else. If we want to get buses working, delivering on timetables exactly, improving frequency and increasing the service for the public, this is how we will do it. It is particularly in the hands of our local councillors across the country, which is why I tell every council that this is up to it and ask it whether we can make some brave but correct decisions around improving public transport.