Grace Boland (Dublin Fingal West, Fine Gael)

As Mr. Regan knows, I am focused on public transport in north County Dublin. I am a big fan of public transport. I want to do everything I can to support the witnesses' organisations but I also need to highlight the issues and severe challenges in north County Dublin. The Fingal area has the third largest population in the country. People forget that. The population is rapidly increasing. We need our public transport to mirror the increase in population.

I thank Senator Duffy for giving me two bits at the cherry. I will focus first on the 33 bus route, including the 33, the 33A and the 33X. I have been asking the Minister to set up a meeting with the NTA in relation to the 33 route and the proposed BusConnects route. The journey times on the 33 service are becoming increasingly long. The service itself is not really fit for purpose. The Coastal Bus Connects local group has done an awful lot of work around this. Its representatives would appreciate a meeting with the NTA. In the six minutes allotted, I will not be able to have the over-and-back we need to discuss considering how we can have a more fit-for-purpose service and moving some of the existing buses onto an express service to serve Balbriggan, Skerries, Rush, Lusk and Swords. Those buses would also stop in Santry for DCU and Beaumont before going into town. An express service would speed up the journey time. Would Mr. Creegan be open to facilitating that meeting in the next few weeks?