James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious that today's discussion does not necessarily pertain to my constituency, so I will be brief. We have a room full of people who had to deal with a very difficult situation last Thursday. For the workers and passengers involved, it was not a pleasant experience. I wish everyone well in the work that needs to be done as a result to improve safety to some degree. Without going into it too much, I want to say in solidarity with the workers involved, it was a horrendous situation to deal with. In the past, I have asked whether there could be some system to improve on security alerts, because it is hard for anyone to make a decision to withdraw services without direct advice from An Garda Síochána. The State agencies present should not have to make that call. That should lie with An Garda Síochána. That needs to be tightened up to keep everyone safe, to be frank.

I have two questions for Mr. Kent. We have seen a huge increase in the uptake of public transport services in my area, east Cork. After the pandemic, the figures for regrowth have been strong, which is great. Things such as traffic congestion and the increase in the cost of motoring in the past two years, which have been exceptionally high between insurance and fuel, have meant that many people have been trying to find better ways to get to and from work. Thankfully, Bus Éireann services are extremely popular, especially with students and people who work in Cork city. However, we have an issue in Youghal, County Cork. We are crying out for a double-decker service in the mornings. It would be a huge improvement to our local bus services. I hope that could be taken on board and looked at. We would appreciate that.

Between Ballygiblin-----