Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

A Cheann Comhairle, this is the first time I have had an opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment, and I am grateful for the opportunity you have given me to speak on the issue of public transport, with particular reference to the needs of my constituents in Stamullen, Gormanston, Greenanstown and surrounding areas.

The rural transport service in Meath has recently set up a shuttle service between the townland of Greenanstown, the village of Stamullen and the village of Gormanston, which is designed to enable commuters from Stamullen to connect with Bus Éireann and Irish Rail services at Gormanston. To establish this project on a long-term basis, the Meath Accessible Transport Project, also known as Flexibus, has submitted an application seeking funding from the Government's smarter travel fund. Flexibus is the rural transport group operating in Meath and it has shown itself to be committed to serving the needs of communities in Meath that do not have access to any other kind of public transport, such as Stamullen.

Stamullen is a fast growing town populated mainly by young families, but it has no full-time public transport system. In fact, the population of Stamullen village is about 2,500, while the population of the Stamullen electoral division is about 6,500. In 2007, The Irish Times reported that three quarters of all houses in Stamullen had been built in the five years to 2006. Stamullen is probably the largest town in Ireland without a scheduled Bus Éireann service. With a large population explosion in the area, there was clearly a great need for public transport in Stamullen and its environs. The rural transport service in Meath has responded to this, and in October 2009, it began operating services on a trial basis from Greenanstown through Stamullen village every morning and evening that connects directly with Bus Éireann and Irish Rail services at Gormanston, approximately two miles from the village. The Bus Éireann service travels to Balbriggan and onto Dublin city centre via the airport and the port tunnel.

I worked very closely with Bus Éireann and Flexibus to get this shuttle bus off the ground, and both companies are fully supportive of it as a pilot project. The innovative aspect of the arrangement is that there is integrated ticketing with the Bus Éireann service. When a person buys a ticket on the Flexibus shuttle in Stamullen, the ticket is valid with Bus Éireann, while ten journey tickets are also sold.

In my opinion, the service has been an overwhelming success to date. The pilot will end very shortly, but I have received many requests from constituents to retain the route, which has proven to be a speedy and efficient mode of transport for Stamullen commuters. Flexibus has submitted an application under Transport 21 and the smarter travel programme, and this should be supported at Government level because it is succeeding in reducing the amount of traffic leaving Stamullen and giving people the opportunity to complete their journey to work in Dublin purely public transport means. I support the application for the funding of this project, and I understand that the Minister is considering it. I would be very grateful if the Minister approved it to allow the project to continue on a full-time basis.

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