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

I appreciate that. There is an issue of a PSO service and also the commercial route 40 service provided by Expressway. The more the merrier is my view of the matter.

I wish to raise something that is important to me. Looking at east Cork commuters, whether they live in Youghal, Midleton or any of the dozens rural villages in my constituency - I will not name them all - much of that traffic goes from east Cork under the Jack Lynch tunnel and on down to Mahon and Ringaskiddy where Pfizer and various pharmaceutical companies are located. Employees of these companies and of Cork University Hospital and Munster Technological University travel through the Jack Lynch tunnel from east Cork to their destinations without going into Cork city centre. It might be to Douglas where there are lots of industrial parks. Will the NTA do a demand analysis on providing increased bus services for people living in Midleton, Youghal, Carrigtwohill, Glantane and other places to see if we can do a proper job and provide bus services through the Jack Lynch tunnel connecting to Mahon, Ringaskiddy, Douglas and other employment hubs in that area? There are huge numbers travelling to and from those places daily. The pressure point is the famous Dunkettle interchange. That is where the biggest issue has been. Could the NTA look at trying to deliver that?