Mr. John Murphy:

Unfortunately, there are no good channels of communication. Particularly in recent years, with Covid and the lockdowns, public transport was continuously operating to a reduced degree, but our members were working day in, day out. There were various issues on which we tried to engage with the then Minister and the NTA and, unfortunately, while I would like to say there was engagement and co-operation, there was not. There were acknowledgements of receipt.

The Senator rightly referred to the Dublin Transport Authority Act 2008. I think it specifically says that on establishment day an advisory council would be established. The Act set out who would be on the council, including, I think, a member of the Garda of no lesser rank than superintendent. There were also trade union members, members of various local authorities and other stakeholders. If that or something similar to it had been established, there would have been a conduit for raising not just security and safety issues but regular issues across the network.

The only time we get a positive engagement with the NTA seems to be on the likes of the rolling out of BusConnects. In fairness, it engaged extensively with us on that because we were involved in local communities and with our members trying to highlight the positivities of that.

As was said, we are all for public transport and the benefits it will bring. With nearly €3 billion invested in BusConnects as well as the planned metro and Luas extensions, if the gains of this are to be realised, people have to be satisfied when using public transport that they will be safe and secure on it. We do not think it will be fully realised unless something is done to alleviate the problems that are increasing and faced daily by not only our members but also passengers.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, which does the contracts for the rail network, commissioned a study in 2020, Travelling In a Woman's Shoes. I am sure people have read it.