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

The investment in our road network is intended to make it safer in many cases and to join up facilities, assets and cities that need better connectivity. I thank the Deputy for acknowledging that we are making progress in the public transport sector. I accept we need to make more progress and I have outlined how we are working on that. However, it is also important to acknowledge the big change under way in respect to the numbers of people using public transport. Based on the analysis the Deputy offered, one would think fewer people were using public transport than a year ago. More people are using Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann, Luas and Irish Rail services, particularly the DART and suburban rail services. Contrary to what she suggested, more people are using public transport and we need to continue to invest in this in line with the plan I outlined, which seeks to substantially increase service provision. Over the past 18 months, an additional €90 million has been made available to support the improvement, maintenance and upgrading of the Dublin Bus fleet.

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