Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday I listened to a segment on "The Pat Kenny Show" on Dublin traffic. Last night, "Prime Time" covered the same issue. Increasingly, the lack of capacity in public transport is raised in the context of what is becoming a very significant congestion problem. In the past week alone, a number of buses have been diverted to try to alleviate the traffic chaos that is fast becoming the hallmark of College Green. This was exacerbated by the introduction of the Luas cross city.

We are facing a significant problem in 2021 owing to fines for not adhering to our climate commitments. One of the best things we can do is invest in public transport to meet those climate commitments and avoid the fines. Not only will investment in public transport offset the fines but it will also deliver a public transport system fit for a modern Ireland. In the early 1990s, we received a significant investment from the European Union because we made a case that our traffic problems in Dublin were inhibiting our economic growth nationally. It is ironic that, a couple of decades later, the same case can be and is being made by the business community and others.

There is understandable anger over the disgraceful treatment of disabled people on public transport. I refer in particular to the rail network. That a disabled person would have to give notice of four hours just to take a DART into town, for example, is not acceptable. It is hardly reassuring to any rail users to note that a reply I received from Irish Rail last week states it has not received any funding for placing orders with manufacturers and, therefore, there will not be any deliveries of new trains in 2018, 2019 or 2020. The reply also informed me that the company has not purchased any new trains or carriages in the past five years. This means no additional capacity will have been added to the rail stock in eight years.

What of the game changer of DART underground? Not only would that significantly alleviate Dublin traffic but it would have far-reaching benefits for the surrounding counties and make our capital city function properly. Anybody who commutes on Irish Rail will tell the Taoiseach about commuter trains at peak times. One is doing well if one gets on and if one does, one will be squashed like a sardine. Is it any wonder people are opting for the comfort of their cars?

We know the lead-in time from order to delivery of new trains is three to four years so decisions will have an impact if they are made now. The Taoiseach spoke recently about the need to spend now to save later. Does that mean he will accelerate the funding to Irish Rail for the purchase of new trains? How can disabled people expect any improvement in how they are treated if Irish Rail is not in a position to purchase new accessible carriages for the foreseeable future? In terms of fleet strategy, will the Government take a very cautious approach or will it future-proof purchases to provide for the huge expansion that is expected in the commuter-belt areas in terms of housing? Will the Taoiseach commit to accelerating the DART underground project which has been proposed as far back as the mid-1990s?

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