Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Deputies for their contributions on the Bill. As they have all acknowledged, this is a technical Bill which focuses on a number of important areas regarding the regulation of public transport and the planning of future public transport projects. All Deputies offered their support for the Bill and offered comments on how it could be improved. As is their right, they also used the introduction of the Bill to raise broader issues on the availability and planning of public transport throughout our city and country.

As my colleagues, Deputies Dowds and Lawlor, are in the Chamber and I listened to their contributions I wish to respond to some of the points each of them made.

Deputy Lawlor focused on the capital plan.

We engaged on that earlier during Question Time. The Deputies are clear about my priorities in the capital plan and the discussions taking place within the Cabinet on the same issue.

Deputy Lawlor made two points that I wish to pick up before I move to the text that is now being circulated on the Bill. The point was made about the fare structure in place for public transport and this can be very complicated. There is also the issue of expense, which a number of people mentioned. We must consider the balancing act of having a fare structure that is simple but which at the same time can recognise that different people will be on different journeys for different lengths of time. Balancing that can be difficulty. The National Transport Authority, NTA, and my Department have made much progress on this, particularly with the introduction of Leap cards, which remove much of the complexity. I accept the Deputy's point that we should look to make the process simpler, and I hope that over time we will find ways to make our fare structure even simpler than now. Dublin Bus, in particular, has made progress in trying to make our fare structure simpler for people to understand in order to encourage more people to use public transport.

The Deputy also offered support for the work done by the NTA in sustainable town and city strategies, which cover many of the funding needs outside Dublin. This has been affected in recent years by all of the terrible change that our economy went through. Over time, I would like to see the strategy rebuilt, although I fear it will not be rebuilt in the way the Deputy wants because there are other funding needs that we must address at the same time. It is a very important project for many communities and towns represented by the Deputy; I also know it works as I have seen evidence of that.

Deputy Dowds also touched on a number of points but I will speak to an area of common interest between both Deputies, which is the proposed opening of the Phoenix Park tunnel. I acknowledge Deputy Naughten's input, as he contributed earlier in the debate and, in fairness, he identified this many years ago as a priority that should be addressed. It is a remarkable issue as the tunnel has been in existence in our country since the late 1870s. It saw substantial passenger use but for many reasons that was significantly reduced and the tunnel is now only really used for freight. Due to investment from the Government - I acknowledge the role of the Minister, Deputy Howlin - the tunnel will now be open for passenger use. I am hopeful that will happen by next summer. This will help carry an additional million passengers on the line spoken of by the two Deputies, although I acknowledge that the greatest benefit will probably be felt in Deputy Lawlor's communities rather than those of Deputy Dowds. That is because of many of the issues recognised by Deputy Dowds.

This project is long overdue but it is happening and the tunnel will be open next year. The investment put in by this Government, particularly in improving city centre signalling, has opened the possibility of using the tunnel. I, for one, am really looking forward to seeing that happen. With regard to frequency, outside of peak periods, there will be one service per day, but in the peak periods, there will be four additional services per day. If I go to the point made by Deputy Dowds-----

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