Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I appreciate him allowing me to fill in for my colleagues. I welcome the representatives from Irish Rail. As the Cathaoirleach said, they have been very responsive to all of us who have contacted them and we appreciate that. However, I do not think I have seen an issue come to my office that has generated a higher volume of complaints and concern than the changes to the northern commuter line. The level of contact I and my colleagues had was unprecedented.

As the Cathaoirleach outlined, it was a disaster in north Dublin. Commuters on the northern line felt completely abandoned. Major housing is planned and has been delivered in this area and there are huge demands on all the infrastructure. The public transport infrastructure is crucial. Irish Rail heard all the complaints about overcrowding, delayed trains and large gaps in the morning without trains. Changing over to southbound services was a complete disaster. It was dangerous in Connolly Station and added about 20 minutes to the journey time of commuters, which is completely unacceptable. I am glad the company has responded to these complaints and that a new timetable is coming in next Monday. It is eagerly awaited and we will all be watching it carefully to ensure problems do not arise.

I have some specific questions. How many complaints were received about the northern commuter service? What were the nature of the complaints? Did they relate to the change in timetable, the termination of trains at Connolly Station, the overcrowding and the delays in the mornings and evenings? People in north County Dublin are worried something like this might happen again in the future. Public trust has broken down. What reassurances can the witnesses give us that Irish Rail has learned from this fiasco, that it will not be repeated and that the company will work in partnership with the people who use its service day in and day out?

I have a specific request in relation to students attending to Loreto Secondary School in Balbriggan. The evening service has been changed and the service that used to arrive at 4.06 p.m. is now arriving at 3.59 p.m. The girls finish school at 4 p.m., so they are missing this service and it is creating a real difficulty for them and their parents. It is a very large school. There are girls from Donabate, Rush, Lusk and Skerries going to and from school in Balbriggan by train every day. The school is located right beside the train station so there is a good number of students using the train service. It has been very difficult for all of them. As a result, many parents are driving children to school. There is also an issue on Wednesdays when school finishes at 1.20 p.m. There was a service that arrived at 1.26 p.m. but no longer does, which leaves a large gap in the middle of the afternoon. Will Irish Rail look at its scheduling to see whether this issue can be resolved?